


And Now For Something Completely Different...

by Happy_Fluffy_Rainbow_Bunnies



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Smut, Temporary Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-10
Updated: 2016-02-10
Packaged: 2018-05-18 01:34:54
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 44,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5893015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Happy_Fluffy_Rainbow_Bunnies/pseuds/Happy_Fluffy_Rainbow_Bunnies
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sam knew when he left that church nothing would be the same. The Angels had fallen and the gates to hell were still open. Still reeling from the effects of the trials Sam is just trying to get back in the game with his brother and Castiel to help but nothing seems to be working. Enter Gabriel. Ever since Elysian Fields he's been lying low, and when the doors to heaven are locked against him Gabriel, stranded on Earth with his Grace intact, seeks to help Sam and get some help himself. He's taken it on himself to help his newly-human siblings find their way in the world but something's gone wrong. Someone or something is killing off the Fallen...and Gabriel feels like the only one who can stop it.</p><p>This is a re-imagining of what might've happened after the finale of Season 8.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first Big Bang and I just want to say thank you to my beta Julie and a huge thank you to my artist, Ookamikuro, who also was kind enough to help me with their knowledge of previous Big Bangs and give my story a once over themselves while they were busy with their beautiful artwork which can be found here : http://archiveofourown.org/works/5967340

Sam, honest to god, nearly fell off his chair when, all of a sudden, a certain Archangel appeared in his room. One he had been one hundred percent sure was dead.

"Heya Sammy. Long time no see. Didja miss me?" Gabriel smirked, appearing in the hunter's hotel room and wasting no time in sprawling back on the bed. He looked particularly smug tonight, like he'd done something he knows he shouldn't have but went ahead and did anyway. Tucking his fingers behind his head he'd switched the TV from Sam's Discovery Channel special to the latest episode of Dr. Sexy.

Sam looked over at the angel now on his bed with a look caught between confusion and outright shock, his eyes flickering to the TV when it switched to Dr. Sexy, and he didn't even have the mind to be annoyed just yet. "Wh- Gabriel? I thought you were _dead_."

"Yeah, so did everyone else. But I figured hey, with Meta-bastard up there I thought it was time I come back down for a visit." Actually, Gabriel had been outside of heaven at the time the gates came crashing down. It was Metatron's own fault for thinking that Daddio wouldn't raise Gabriel in the same manner he'd raised Castiel. The angels had a role too, but it wasn't to come crashing down in a blaze of glory. But that wasn’t Gabriel’s concern at the moment. His golden eyes flickered from the television to Sam giving him a languid once over before his expression twisted a bit into one of concern. "You look like you're half-dead at least...what the hell've you been up to?"

Sam knew he wasn't in the best condition, and he looked about as bad as he felt, most days. Other days he felt a little better, but he never felt good, exactly. They were still trying to figure out what they were supposed to do to make him feel less like hell. He made a face and sighed, leaning over to grab the remote and change the channel back to what he was watching. "I... almost finished the Trials, to close the gates of Hell. But I didn't finish the last trial."

Gabriel's sucker popped loudly out of his mouth as he sat upright on the bed. "Yeah I heard about that...through the grapevine.” And dammit but if he wasn't the most idiot hunter Gabriel had ever seen.

"Sammy-boy you...are somethin' else." Replacing his sucker in his mouth Gabriel stood and sauntered over to where Sam sat looking more than a bit weary. “C'mere, you dope," he teased as he reached down to cup Sam's head, turning it up to face him.

"I would've finished it," Sam argued, frowning, but he definitely wasn't stupid enough to turn away from the hand turning his face up to look at the archangel. Sam knew Gabriel had to be one of the very last angels left, and was probably the only way he'd ever get to actually feel better for more than two seconds. Also, he was sick of seeing that heartbreakingly sad puppy dog look on Castiel's face every time he tried, and inevitably failed, to help him. Still, Sam felt the need to defend himself. "I was so close, you have no idea. And who knows how long we have until Crowley comes looking for us again."

"Crowley? You got _Crowley_ as your demon? Damn when you Winchesters go for something you go all out, don't you?" Gabriel felt strained the moment he tried to tap into his own energy. His grace was weakened from years away from heaven (and perhaps a little too much spent on his favorite vices) but he'd use what he had for Sam. Because even now, hell maybe even especially now, he was the one hunter who had his respect. Exhaling slowly through his nose Gabriel reached up with one hand to comb back the exceptionally long hair Sam had grown since he'd last seen him. Gripping handfuls of the dark locks he smirked and shook his head. "And the soul you freed from Hell?"

Sam relaxed in a way he hadn't in weeks, months even, when he felt the moment the weariness and the pain lifted from him, and he leaned into the hand in his hair, deciding then and there that he definitely owed Gabriel about a million favors. He actually smiled a little.

"Bobby," he answered, and when he shifted his head slightly he could feel that Gabriel had a pretty good grip on a handful of his hair, which he had to admit was growing pretty long now. Dean hated it it but Sam had no intention to cut it anytime soon. "I just really wish we could've finished the third trial. It would've been worth it."

_Selfless to a fault_ , Gabriel thought. _Especially for those who hardly seemed to deserve it._

"The world would be a darker place without you Sam," Gabriel murmured, quite seriously, a contrast from his joking manner from just a few seconds ago. He combed his second hand through Sam's hair allowing his fingers to start massaging his scalp in slow easy circles. "Well...I'm sure he was pleased to get out of there. Did you gank a hound while you were down there? The ol' two-for-one special?"

Yep, Sam definitely owed Gabriel a million favors. Not only had he taken the majority of his pain and never ending tiredness away, his hands were working magic on his head. He put aside the comment that Gabriel made about the world being a darker place without him, not quite sure how to respond to that, and answered the question instead with a careful shake of his head, not wanting to dislodge the archangel's hands. "No, we got a hound first. Actually, Dean wanted to be the one to do the trials, but one thing led to another and I killed the hound."

"Which put you on the road to hell--so to speak." Gabriel smirked a bit to himself as he moved Sam's head this way and that for the sake of massaging a spot that he hadn't gotten to yet. With each touch, Gabriel used his grace to repair a bit of the damage done to Sam's noggin. Dean probably wasn't much better off but he wasn't about to put his hands on Cas' hunter. He had Sam half bent in his chair, pulling his head to rest against his stomach while Gabriel continued down the hunter's neck. He let out another long sigh only this one seemed to tremble as he used the last of his expendable grace to send a shiver down Sam's spine easing the aches and pains there last. "Dean wouldn't have made it I don't think. Though he's got a tougher noggin that's for damn certain. Boy's been knocked out more times that I can count..."

"He almost died with the first trial, there was no way I would've let him go on." He pointed out, rolling his eyes a little, easily letting Gabriel manipulate his head this way and that in the name of the stupidly amazing things he was doing with his hands, and grace. Because there was no way that just Gabriel’s hands could make Sam feel better than he had in longer than he could remember. His eyes half closed when his temple rested against Gabriel’s stomach. He rolled his shoulders a little when he felt a shiver roll down his spine, yet more pain leaving his body. "Are you using up your grace on me? Oh and hey--that reminds me, does Cas know you're, y'know, not dead?"

With his expendable grace gone it was all Gabriel could do to keep his wings in check, so he took in a breath and chuckled, shaking his head. "You really do ask all the wrong questions Samsquatch. Yes, I used some Grace on you. No Cas doesn't know." Leaving the hunter's head against him Gabriel found himself oddly content combing back the man's hair one hand at a time while Dr. Sexy played on behind them, all slick lines and cheesy porn music. "I didn't come here for him anyway, otherwise I'd be breaking up the love fest goin' on in your brother's room. Really, Cas is using your brother's stomach like a pillow."

"That's a hundred times better than the usual kind of love fest going on in there." Sam grumbled under his breath, with the side of his head resting against Gabriel's stomach with the angel's hands in his hair.. "So if you didn't come for Cas or Dean, then why are you here?"

That he even had to ask made Gabriel smile, so he opted not to answer. Hey, it was his prerogative as an archangel to keep some answers to himself. Standing in the quiet of the room Gabriel's hand slipped a little lower down the long hair on the back of Sam’s neck his fingers disappearing under the collar of the hunter's shirt, cold fingertips against Sam’s heated skin. Gabriel breathed deeply at the contrast and let it out slowly.

Sam shivered a little when he felt Gabriel's hand slide lower until his fingers slid beneath the collar of his shirt, cool fingers against his skin, but he didn't mind so much as he got used to it. Mostly he just didn't want Gabriel to take his hands off him at all, cold fingers or no. But he did want an answer to his question, even if the archangel clearly did not want to give one. He tilted his head up so he could look up at the shorter man, shifting a little closer to the edge of the chair he was seated on. "Your fingers are cold. And why didn't you answer my question?"

Gabriel frowned in discomfort as Sam pulled his head away, his gold eyes narrowed in on the hunter while his hands pushed forward all the hair he'd just gotten finished combing back thinking that that was fifteen minutes he’d just lost. His frown faded but not by much as he tucked his cold fingers into curve of Sam's jaw just beneath his ears where the skin was red and warm. "I tend to get cold when I don't have enough grace to maintain a normal body temperature, so sue me, you needed it more than I did. I needed you to get better."

It was too late to take the words back but Gabriel acted as if they hadn't been said. He combed his fingers back through the hunters hair keeping the stern expression as he locked eyes with the man beneath him revealing something more in the glint of his eyes than he intended…

Sam kept his gaze locked with Gabriel's as the archangel started running his fingers back through his hair again, pushing it all back from his face. "Why?" He asked eventually, aware that he might be starting to push his limits, given by the stern expression on the archangel's face. He wasn't one to have his business pried into, but Sam wanted answers, and he didn't think it was that bad to want to know why Gabriel wanted to see him, why he needed him to be better.

Gabriel's fingers tightened a bit in Sam's hair as his hands met at the back of the man's neck. Why? The first of the great questions of the universe. But dammit why did Sam have to ask it like an adorable giant-sized 4-year-old? His expression a mix of shock and curiosity that was devastating to witness. Gripping his handfuls of Sam's hair Gabriel held the hunter's head still as he leaned down so their faces were level and he spoke low and seriously. "Because the world would be a darker place without you Sam Winchester." Pulling away slowly Gabriel fixed his eyes on Sam's hazel gaze and pulled off a winning smirk. "S'not a place I'd like to see."

Sam didn’t understand why it mattered so much to Gabriel, why he mattered. It was as confusing as it was intriguing considering the angels had always seen him as the key to their own destruction.

"Well--?” Gabriel finally said, clearing his throat while he braced his hands on Sam’s shoulders, nodding over to the bed. “Gonna give me a hand or what?"

"You look like you're actually going to fall over," he thought aloud, half amused and half shocked, and a little intrigued by the turn of events. Now he was the stronger one and Gabriel the weaker, but Sam stood and realized he wasn’t sure how to help Gabriel sit down when he looked like he could barely keep himself up. And when a thought popped into his head, that was maybe just the right side of crazy, who was he to turn it away? So instead of helping him walk, or just turning them around so that the archangel could sit down in the seat Sam had been in moments prior, he stooped and, sliding one arm around his shoulders and the other under his knees, lifted him right up off the ground and carried him over to the bed with a stupid grin. "Nice to have my strength back," he mused, before promptly dumping Gabriel onto the hotel bed. 

Gabriel anticipated maybe a bit of a lift from Sam but what he _hadn't_ anticipated was being swept into the giant's arms like a damsel in distress. His arm latched quickly around Sam's neck and Gabriel furrowed his brow, just staring like he wasn't exactly sure what was going on. And in all honestly, he kind of didn't. This wasn't the hunter's usual MO, especially not with the likes of Gabriel. Hell, twice he and his brother had stabbed him through the chest with a cedar branch when they assumed he was a Trickster god.

The faintest color slipped into Gabriel's cheek at Sam dropping him on the bed like some conquest he'd dragged home for the night, but strangely enough, Gabriel found he didn't mind that thought one bit. Sitting himself up Gabriel shifted back until he was sitting up with his back against the headboard, resuming his position from earlier with his hands tucked behind his head and a sucker hanging from his mouth. After a few silent moments he glanced up to Sam and nodded his head to the empty stretch of bed beside him. "In you get, Sammy."

Sam yet again let the nickname slide, though he wondered why he let Gabriel use it or any of the other ones. He tilted his head thinking about actually sitting down with him. He eyed Gabriel, finally relenting and climbed onto the bed beside the archangel, sitting up against the headboard and watching the television with a disdainful eye. "I don't get why you and Dean like this show." He complained, and considered getting up to go and grab the remote, so he could change it back to the Discovery Channel special he'd been watching before. "Think you could change it back to something tolerable?"

"Define tolerable?" 

Gabriel's smirk returned. His legs barely worked and he could _still_ get a hot guy into his bed. Good thing to know he hadn't lost his touch. "C'mon, it's not that bad," he insisted gesturing to the show as it returned from its commercial break. Leaning in towards Sam as if he were whispering a secret, Gabriel spoke quickly. "It's really a very well put together show once you ignore all the wild sex going on. I mean the only reason it's there at all is to create tension between the characters--to make them more human." 

Gabriel turned his head back to the show but his shoulder remained pressed into Sam's. He was far too weak in this state. It wasn't a good place to be, even with the able bodied hunter at his side because if there was one thing Gabriel hated in this whole universe it was to be left feeling _weak_. "Besides--aren't you going to sleep? I don't want to be stuck watching some crazy documentary by myself..." Gabriel shuddered resolutely as he finally managed the strength to push away from the warmth of Sam's shoulder. "Unless, you know, there's something on theology on the History channel. Lemme tell you--that stuff is a _scream_ if you were actually there for it all." 

Sam rolled his eyes at Gabriel's explanation, shaking his head, though he didn't pull away from the archangel, kind of enjoying the warm press of his shoulder against his own. He turned to look at Gabriel, his gaze flickering down when he pushed off from where he'd been leaning against his shoulder. "Well, I was going to sleep, but your Grace thing made me feel better than I have in weeks. And I've been sleeping more than I thought possible lately, so I think I’ll stay up." Even if that meant watching Dr. Sexy with the archangel at his side. "I was watching an ancient civilizations thing. I don't know if there's any theology shows on, but we could look?" Anything was better than the cheesy porn music, multiple sex scenes, and impossible drama of the soap opera.

Gabriel groaned inwardly. He had hoped with Sam sleeping he could manage to pass out for a few hours as well (unknown to the hunter of course) but if Sam got that much of a boost from his healing then he was stuck now wasn't he? 

"Aw--fine," Gabriel whined. He snapped his fingers intending to return the TV to Sam's old channel--but nothing happened. Turning his head to the TV Gabriel focused himself a little harder, his gold eyes narrowing as he snapped his fingers again a bit harder this time. Still nothing. Something was very wrong here...but he couldn't let Sam know that. "Something wrong with your TV Sam? Better get Maintenance up here pronto," he said with a half smirk, folding his arms over his chest in an effort to save face, but his eyes gave him away; staring hard at the television as if accusing it of something wicked. Sam could change the channel if he wanted to. The remote was just on the dinette table.

Sam frowned as he watched Gabriel staring at the television hard. Perhaps too hard. "Funny--worked the first time you changed the channel,” Sam said, rising to grab the remote and change the channel back to what he’d been watching before, his eyes on the archangel until he returned to his post. Sam hadn't expected the archangel to have used so much of his Grace on him, and Gabriel had apparently used more than he intended, fixing what the Trials had wrought. 

“Exactly how much of your grace did you use on me?”

Gabriel tried not to show weakness, smiling up at Sam as he returned channel surfing until at last he came upon some documentary about the ancient Atlanteans. "Enough to fix you up. Are you really gonna complain? You said yourself you're feeling better than you have in months...I'd think a thank you was an order.” When Sam held his gaze, Gabriel turned back to the television. He kept staring and that made Gabriel feel...weak but in a completely different way. After a few solid minutes of staring Gabriel let his arms fall from behind his head, settling them in his lap instead with a sigh. "I'm fine, Sam," Gabriel said, his voice for once not joking but being quite serious, his gold eyes peering over to the hunter from the corner of his eye. "Really. Let's just watch your show, huh? Maybe I'll teach you some Atlantean if you're a good boy..."

“Well for the record--I’m not exactly thrilled you’re too weak to stand or even change a channel,” Sam said, settling against the headboard a little closer it seemed, till he could feel his arm brush Gabriel’s whenever he moved a little and gave himself a moment to truly process what Gabriel had just said. “Now--wait you’re telling me Atlanteans were real? And you know the language? And you'd teach me some? What does being a 'good boy' constitute, anyway?"

Sam Winchester: Man of a Thousand Questions. Well at least they were questions Gabriel wanted to answer. Smiling at the big idiot's curiosity, Gabriel settled into the comfortable heat radiating from Sam's arm. "One, yes there was an Atlantis. Two, of course I know the language. I'm the freakin' messenger of God. I know all the languages. Three, yes I'll teach you some..." Gabriel let his head roll onto his shoulder facing Sam with another stern expression but his eyes had softened. "But only if you stop mentioning my grace. Capisce?"

Sam pressed back slightly when the golden eyed Angel settled against his arm once more. If Gabriel really wanted him to shut up about his Grace, then that he could do. Especially if it meant Gabriel would teach him a thing or two about a language he'd probably never have a chance to learn about from anyone else, except maybe Cas. 

At first it started out with snarky commentary, Gabriel correcting the experts in their discoveries proving Atlantis exists. ("They think it's a vase, some sacred jug for rituals. It's actually more like--a chamber pot.") Then, as the show progressed, Gabriel began to go on slightly longer tangents describing the striking similarities between the Atlanteans and the Greeks. ("There are angels who say there is actually no difference. Dicks. They just never spent much time on nethrake--repeat after me. Neh-thrah-kee. Nethrake means little island--so they really didn't get to see the subtle nuances that set the Atlanteans apart.") And even later somehow the tv ended up turned down. The show now just background noise while Gabriel described the lush green forests of Atlantis with trees hanging off the edges of the white limestone cliffs, the roadways made of mother of pearl, and the great Atlantean capital of Lamppetra, literally meaning 'shining stone'.

"Everyday there was a debate about something," Gabriel reminisced while he leaned heavily into Sam. At some point he'd put his arm on Sam's shoulder, propping his head up with his hand while he continued speaking and now he was fully sunk in against the hunter's warmth. "And it wasn't like the freakin' Greeks trying to figure out the right philosophies of living, the Atlanteans were asking the bigger questions. You know--" Gabriel turned his head to Sam, tucking his hand beneath his chin. "It was an Atlantean that came up with the question ‘What is the meaning of life?’. People would walk around wondering it to themselves but until then no one knew how to put it into words--"

Sam listened to Gabriel going on, occasionally asking a question or two, or repeating what he was told to repeat. His attention was utterly rapt, and he was barely aware of how close they were now with Gabriel's arm on his shoulder, his head resting on his hand, and Sam had at some point half turned to focus all of his attention on the archangel, TV by then practically forgotten unless Gabriel said something in reference to the program. 

Gabriel yawned, a tremendous shiver rushing through him despite the dual warmth of the comforter folded over him and the hunter's warmth. "Whew...that was a good one," he said softly, his voice suddenly tired. How _long_ had he been talking? The fact that he didn’t know meant he'd been talking for way too long. Clearing his suddenly dry throat Gabriel shifted his arm slowly down off of Sam's and stretched back into the headboard with a groan. "I can't believe you let me go on like that Samsquatch..."

When Gabriel moved and stretched, Sam rolled his shoulders and sat up a bit straighter, working the stiffness out of his neck, though he didn't turn back to the TV. He grinned when he was asked why he let him go on, and shrugged a shoulder. "Why would I stop you? That was by far the coolest history lesson I've ever had. That was.. Something else." He could barely keep the smile off his face, but even so, he noticed the way Gabriel actually looked more tired and worn out than Sam himself. “Okay, so I know you said no more questions about your Grace, but I just have one more. How do you, like, recharge? And do you want a drink or something?"

Hearing Sam call his history lesson 'the coolest' shouldn't have made him as happy as it did. Nodding in response to Sam's question Gabriel turned his gaze down to his hands in his lap, disregarding the question about his grace for now. "Yeah--water. Please," he said with a rough voice, chancing a glance at the hunter as he stood up. Sam really was too observant for his own damn good. Waiting until he got the bottle of water and took a few sips Gabriel heaved a sigh and shrugged up to Sam who stood close by sipping on a beer while he patiently waited for an answer. 

"Meditation, mostly. Or a quick zip up to heaven could recharge even the weakest angel's grace. That's kinda tough though when you've been locked out...because some pissed off pencil pusher wanted to throw a fit," Gabriel muttered trying to cover the waiver in his voice with a deep draft from his bottle. So okay, he hadn't really admitted it to himself until now but--it was the truth. He'd been locked out of his home for no good reason at all, through no fault of his own. And the worst part was he couldn't even go up there and stop it. He was a damn archangel--the last of his breed and now he was helpless as a child sick in bed.. "The longer we're away from heaven the harder it is to recover," Gabriel explained as he took another gulp of water letting it settle on his empty stomach. "S'why you're acting all Florence Nightingale on me. Seriously, should I get you a little candy-striper's outfit?"

Sam rolled his eyes at Gabriel's tease, though he hadn't failed to notice the slight break in Gabriel's voice when he spoke of being locked out of Heaven, so he let it slide just this once. "Well you look like you're going to pass out any second now, and you did something good for me, so sue me if I'm trying to help." Maybe too good, he thought, considering the state Gabriel was in. He didn't think that he was in any way worth Gabriel being put through this kind of weakness, but it was kinda cute to see him stuck in the bed and unable to manage much of his usual snark and trickery, when he could barely talk properly. "So are you going to meditate now, to get your Grace back on track?"

"Aw--it's such a shame. You'd look just adorable in a little paper hat with a cross..."

The snark, the teasing it was just his defense, his only real defense left now against the charm of the hunter's presence. Maybe it was the close quarters or hell it might just be how nice Sam was being to him but...Sam was damn charming when he was in 'protective mode'. 

"Actually," Gabriel sighed after a long minute, capping his bottle and setting it down on the side table Gabriel shifted down into the softness of the bed, dragging the comforter back up to his neck as a fresh shiver ran its way down his spine. "I'm going to _sleep_. Which is something I don't think I've done in--oh, at least the last 2400 years..." Even with the heat of Sam lingering on the sheets the bed still felt cold. Looking up to the hunter Gabriel tugged up the blanket to just under his nose before his gold eyes narrowed up at Sam. He didn't want to have to say it out loud, hoping to simply project the notion into Sam's mind to just get back into bed...with him.

Sam was not stupid, and he knew how to take a hint every now and then. And Gabriel telling him he was going to sleep, and pulling the blankets right up to his nose (and it was probably illegal some place in the world to be that adorable when you're millions of years old), coupled with the fact that he knew Gabriel was extra cold because his Grace was powered down, he knew that was his cue to get in bed with him. He went to turn the lights off from their dimmed state, and turned the volume down a little on the television before climbing back into bed and lying down beside Gabriel. "I didn't even know angels could sleep," he admitted, turning on his side to face the archangel, blankets tucked under his arm as he watched Gabriel.

As the room around them darkened somehow Gabriel could still see Sam. It was the strangest damn thing...Sam glowed in the semi-darkness in a way that Gabriel had never seen before. He turned instinctively towards the eerie ethereal light and wondered if this was how Cas saw Dean. When he still had a flicker of grace left in him that is. Did Dean's soul glow like this? Brighter? Bigger? Nah...Sam's was certainly bigger, just like the rest of him.

"Only on special occasions, Sammy. Only on special occasions."

Like when an archangel lets himself be drained of his Grace just to heal a stupid and gorgeous little human hunter. Warmth fills the blankets and Gabriel is pulled once more into the glowing aura around Sam. He moved only as close as he dared, peering up at the hunter through his lashes taking in a deep breath smelling skin and cotton and Sam and wondering how he'd missed all of it...

"Thank you," he confessed quietly after a long silence, his gold eyes soft and half-lidded. 

Sam watched Gabriel in the semi-darkness, the television the only glow in the room, sending shadows all around, and light in odd places. He could still see the gold of Gabriel's eyes, though. That peculiar color that he'd not seen anyone else, and he was sure if he ever did it wouldn't be half as interesting. "You're welcome," He murmured, when the archangel thanked him, an odd occurrence that he wasn't going to let slide. Gabriel was lying closer to him now, on his side facing Sam, and he knew just how little effort it would take to close the short distance between them. 

And yet, he didn't breach it. It seemed like too much of a risk, and that was saying something coming from a Winchester. And, he justified to himself, the way Gabriel was looking at him more indicated that he was probably going to fall asleep any second now. It would be kind of rude to interrupt that, right? Right... 

“Oh for the love of--” Sam interrupted suddenly and Gabriel was too startled to even react properly, jerking his arms up only when Sam had pulled him flush to his chest. Warmth seeped into Gabriel almost instantly, his arms tucked up between Sam’s chest and his own. “You’re cold,” Sam went on, getting Gabriel’s attention only to see his eyes in the darkness burning with that honest sincerity. “You took care of me, let me help take care of you.” The archangel stared for just a minute longer before nodding soundlessly, his arms relaxing between them to bring them together. Against his chest Gabriel could hear Sam’s heartbeat thumping in his ear, the rhythm strong and soothing, lulling the archangel at last to sleep.

Eons could've passed and Gabriel would never know. Hell at this point he didn't even care. Though he could count the number of times he slept on one hand and this, by far, the best experience he could remember and that includes the nights he spent with Marie de Medici.

There was something humbling about being wrapped in Sam's arms. Instead of someone else clinging to Gabriel (which admittedly was nice) he was the one clinging to Sam and it felt good that someone he had reached out to had reached back even in this small way. So Gabriel had slept like he'd never slept before...that is--until there was a sharp knock on the motel room door and a male's falsetto voice called out. "Housekeeping?"

Gabriel opened his eyes, blearily looking to the door with a furrowed brow. It was too early for housekeeping. His internal clock registered it had to be around eight in the morning...knock-knock-knock.

"Housekeeping! You want mint for pillow?" the falsetto spoke again and Gabriel looked around at his altered position. For some reason he wasn't lying on his side beside Sam anymore. At some point in the night, Sam rolled onto his back and Gabriel had either been dragged on top of him or else had rolled back onto his chest for the sake of being warm...using Sam's stomach as a pillow.

"Housekeeping! You want me jerk you off?" 

What the hell kind of hotel was this? Then it finally registered in his sleep-addled brain when Gabriel heard laughter on the other side of the door. That was Cas laughing and Dean laughing beside him. Gabriel smiled to himself at hearing his little brother laughing so freely. Someone must've caught Tommy Boy on TV last night between all the cuddling...but he really had no right to talk about that now that.

"Sammy!" Dean hollered at last, still laughing. "C'mon dude time to get up! We got like thirty minutes before we hit the road--come down to the diner okay?"

Sam was still half asleep when Dean hollered out to him, having barely registered anything he'd said before, though he had heard Castiel and Dean laughing. His eyebrows furrowed when he felt the warm weight of someone else lying on him, and when he finally opened his eyes and looked down his expression smoothed out and the corners of his mouth tugged up. "Do I want to know why they were laughing?" He asked, voice sleep roughened before he cleared his throat. 

"Well, if I was hearing right, your brother was introducing mine to the comedy stylings of Chris Farley," Gabriel explained, his voice still a bit rough from talking so much the night before, reclining back into Sam's chest. "Glad to see he's finally getting the jokes...last time we saw the guy Castiel was not so amused."

Sitting up from between Sam’s legs Gabriel tossed off the blankets sending a rush of chill morning air where there had been only warmth minutes ago. It helped Gabriel to clear his head to move away towards the bathroom and remind himself this was just for for the night. He’d done Sam a favor because--well the kid deserved a freebie after all the shit he’d gone through.

“So....we’re leaving,” Sam began as he sat up to stretch, hesitating just a moment. “You gonna stick around or--?” 

Gabriel paused at the bathroom sink to rub some water over his face, sleep still burning in his eyes as he looked back at the hunter. His question had the archangel tilting his head in a manner Sam may recognize as the tilt Castiel took on when he was confused about something.

"Look Sam..." Gabriel chided with a smirk at his own reflection in the mirror. "I don’t know if you’ve realized it but I’ve got a stake in your well being." Turning around Gabriel would still be smiling but the smile was different. It didn’t quite reach his eyes and felt like it was pulled a little too tight across his features. “I didn't just pop in for a visit. I came for you. And now that my job's done--I suppose it's time I go." 

But he didn't want to. Not really.

Sam frowned, unable to keep the look off his face while he changed into fresh clothes, tossing his sleep-rumpled ones into his laundry bag. He really, really didn't want to Gabriel to go. He'd been enjoying his company, which honestly surprised him more than it should. But especially since now that Cas had been back a few months, as a human, and Dean had been spending a lot of time focused on Cas. With those two wrapped up in each other, Sam kind of got left on the wayside sometimes. Not that he wasn't happy for his brother, because really, he was, it was just kind of...lonely. 

And Gabriel had more than filled that loneliness, and he didn't want him to go, not now, and not for a while. And why shouldn't he just stay with them, anyway? Sam knew it was just his want for him to stay that was controlling his thoughts , but he didn't care. "You will come back at some point, right? You're not just gonna.. Y'know, fix me up and then do whatever it is you do off by yourself?" He asked, part curious and part even worried.

“Don’t worry kiddo,” Gabriel promised with a wink. “I’ll be around.” 

With one last look at Sam Gabriel snapped his fingers and was gone.

Neither of them could know that in the coming months they’d be hit with a shitstorm. 


	2. Chapter 2

Gabriel went back to what he’d been doing before, finding his brothers and sisters and bringing them together. He felt it was the least he could do to help them assimilate into human lives after they’d been cast out. It wasn’t their fault, it wasn’t anyone’s fault except for the asshole writer-turned-director upstairs, Metatron. Gabriel created little settlements all over the world, teaching them how to passably maneuver through human life. Those he taught taught others and there were thriving groups of them by now, some even had humans living in their midst, blissfully unaware of the former grace of their kind neighbors.

But Gabriel’s luck wasn’t always so good. Occasionally he’d find one of his siblings already dead from starvation or dehydration. Some just lay down under a tree and fell asleep, so it seemed. But when the body count began to grow and the manner of death grew more and more violent, Gabriel knew that someone (or something) was killing off the Fallen. The ones Gabriel hadn't gotten to in time or else hadn't discovered until it was too late. In light of this new evil, Gabriel stepped up his search, never keeping still for longer than absolutely necessary. 

Every day another Fallen was found dead, sometimes in pairs, one trying to protect the other in an admirable display. After a while Gabriel couldn't stand it, he looked for the dead before he looked for the living just so he could end his day surrounded by his remaining brothers and sisters instead of having to bury another of them.

And every day, in the quiet seconds before he had to zip off to another locale and continue his work, he thought of Sam. Often he was tempted to use his three seconds of quiet to pop in on him but Gabriel knew innately he was just fine. He’d become strangely transfixed on the man’s soul ever since he’d glimpsed it that night. However, every time he thought of giving in to temptation, Gabriel reminded himself that this mystery hunter was becoming more dangerous, more ballsy...but finally one night it all became too much.

It was three a.m. when Gabriel appeared in the motel room. Cas and Dean were wrapped together on one bed, a tangle of limbs and messy hair. Sam slept alone, sprawled across the queen size bed probably teasing Dean about all the room he got to himself while his older brother was forced to share with the human bed hog that was Castiel. As Gabriel fluttered in there was a telltale snort but before Dean could be roused Gabriel waved his hand over the pair of them forcing them into deeper, more restful sleep. There was no need to alarm any of them, he just needed to see Sam.

The hunter slept peacefully, his body slung over the bed where he lay face down, his head resting in his arm. He was dreaming of a farm, Gabriel saw, or maybe just a big open field of green grass and a big shaggy dog that kept bringing back a tennis ball. Sam would smile in his sleep and throw the ball in his dream much to the dream-dog’s delight.

Gabriel tried to glean a little of that peace of mind for himself, his mind still reeling from what had greeted him tonight.

It had been a massacre.

Gabriel had just finished showing a small tribe of Fallen in South Africa how to build huts. Per his routine Gabriel spent his three seconds thinking about Sam before slipping through space and time to appear in his largest group, settled in the hills of northern Saskatchewan...only to find the camp, a small town really, in ruin. Almost three hundred Fallen and a hundred or so humans, all dead. Tents and cabins were charred ash and smoldering rubble, still glowing hot as Gabriel perused the wreckage. But the horror hadn't ended there. There might have been survivors, people who spotted the fire early, woke to the sound of screams and wisely fled the blaze...but all around the small town Gabriel discovered dead bodies. All murdered in the same fashion as the Fallen who were found alone…

Pain gripped his chest and Gabriel could feel his nails cutting into the palm of his hand as he clenched a fist to keep from lashing out. He’d thought he could handle this on his own but he was wrong. He needed help.

“Sam…” Gabriel whispered, his voice gone hoarse as he stood up and walked over to the bed, reaching out for Sam’s shoulder. “Sammy wake up.”

The hunter woke with a start and his reflexes snapped to grab his attacker, but Sam was stopped dead by the sight of Gabriel filtering into his sleepy vision. “Gabriel?” he rasped, pushing up from the bed and looked from the archangel to Dean and Cas. The two seemed to be deep in sleep, unaware of anything other than their dreams. “What’re you doing here?”

Gabriel’s laughter was dry and sharp as he sat down beside Sam, relief sinking into his bones as their shoulders touched. As if Sam knew what he needed he put an arm around his shoulder absently, finally urging Gabriel to speak. It was tough at first to open up about what he’d been up to, but it was tougher still to admit defeat. Sam stayed quiet through his retelling and Gabriel was grateful for it. The wound was still tender and he would hate to have to cry in front of Sam too and completely ruin his image.

“...so I took care of those I could then I came here,” Gabriel finished at long last, his head falling back to rest on Sam’s arm as he closed his eyes. “I didn’t know who else to turn to…”

Sam listened in awe at the scenes Gabriel described and was left dumbfounded by the end, unable to come up with anything he could say other than, “I’m so sorry.”

“Sorry for what? You didn’t do anything…I’m the one who failed them,” Gabriel said, swallowing the tremor in his voice. “I was supposed to protect them.”

“You can’t be everywhere at once,” Sam argued as he gripped Gabriel’s shoulder, tugging the archangel closer. “It wasn’t your fault…”

Gabriel felt useless, like all the work he’d done was for nothing but even though he knew Sam was right it didn’t feel like that. He feared that by getting them all together he’d made them a bigger target. It had just felt so good to be the archangel who brought them all together and not the archangel who vanished when he was needed most. It had been so long since Gabriel had felt needed like that, and he wondered briefly if it would’ve been this good had he come back in the first place.

Sam’s voice cut through Gabriel’s thoughts drawing his attention back to the hunter. Sam was still watching him with that quiet concentration.

“So--we help you catch the sonofabitch--that’s what you came here for right?”

“That was the plan, yeah…”

“So what’s stopping you?”

Rolling his eyes over to the sleeping pair beside them Gabriel looked at the serenity of the scene before him. Dean had both arms wrapped around Castiel while the dark-haired man slept deeply on his chest, brow furrowed in concentration. Perhaps he was a having a perplexing dream or something…

“He’s happy right now. I don’t want to mess that up for him,” Gabriel sighed. “He deserves to be happy.”

“He can still be happy knowing you’re alive--”

“Yeah but for how long?” Gabriel asked, knowing that there’d be no happy ending if he lied or if he told the truth. Damned if he did, and damned if he didn’t. 

The archangel jolted as Sam’s arms tightened around him, drawing him into the hunter’s chest. Looking up at the man Gabriel was caught off guard at the fondness in Sam’s eyes as he held onto him, almost as if Sam were...protecting him.

“It’s not going to be easy either way you work it out,” Sam reminded him gently and Gabriel slumped into the comfort of that embrace. “But if I’ve learned anything over the last decade...being honest is never easy, but it’s gotta be easier than lying.”

Gabriel knew Sam was right. The Winchesters have had plenty of explosive arguments that started because one or the other had lied about something for too long.

“Can we wait ‘til morning?” Gabriel asked softly as he turned into Sam’s embrace and together he and the hunter sunk down to the bed. The light clicked off and Gabriel closed his eyes, hoping to find the peace he’d felt the last time they’d laid together, unaware that Sam was thinking about that last time too…

He remembered lying there counting every breath Gabriel took against his chest, only getting sleepy again when the sun started to come up. Gabriel had looked so different to him there in the golden sunlight while Sam caught somewhere between sleep and awake. He looked almost innocent, his whole face relaxed and his lips parted to puff warm air against Sam’s chest and were it not for their known history Sam would never have thought Gabriel could honestly look angelic until that morning. He’d trusted Gabriel that night and Gabriel had trusted Sam tonight, coming here to tell him what was really going on beyond the world the hunters could see. 

Sam sure hoped that 'can we wait 'til morning' meant that they'd actually do something about this in the morning, and that they'd tell Dean and Cas, no matter how hard this was going to be. The most likely way they were going to figure this out and do something about it, was if all four of them were in on it and working together to find whoever was doing this and get rid of them. But he understood if Gabriel was too exhausted for that right now, and he didn't think Dean and especially Castiel would take well to being woken up now. As he fell asleep Sam only hoped he could live up to the trust that the angel had put in him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Sam woke up, he was alone.

With Gabriel's grace no longer affecting them Dean and Cas woke with the buzzing sound of the alarm, Cas staring disdainfully at the alarm clock, throwing the blankets over his head in protest while Dean got up, patting his angel on the ass as he moved over to start fixing some coffee knowing they stood little to no chance at getting Cas out of bed without it. Castiel, they had quickly discovered, was best woken carefully and at a decent morning time or you'd have a very grouchy ex-angel on your hands. Three cups and two showers later Sam was dressed sitting at the table and Dean, half dressed in his boxer briefs, had managed to coax Castiel into at least sitting up from bed to drink his coffee. Cas just had to take his shower now and they could be on their way, but as it was he sipped his coffee solemnly from his side of the bed, his blue eyes focusing in the direction of Sam's bed in curiosity. 

"I had the weirdest dream," he finally confessed, his voice soft. Dean glanced over first from cleaning his gun on the dinette table his brow furrowed in concern. Dreams had been the bane of his existence when a fallen Cas had returned to them. His dreams were almost always nightmares but there had been no shouting or thrashing as there might be on a typical night of terrors. "I dreamt Gabriel was here. I could hear his voice..."

No sooner had Castiel let those words sink in then there was a knock at the door and a pleasant, sing-song voice calling out with the rap, "Shave and-a hair-cut...two bits!"

When the door opened Gabriel smiled at seeing Sam being the one to admit him. "Hello, Sam," he said warmly before winking playfully and raising his voice, peering around the hunter's size into the room where he could see Cas twisted on the bed looking at him as if he'd just seen a ghost. "Knew I recognized that car--" he went on, strolling past Sam inside only to convincingly pull off 'startled' when Dean approached him instead with his gun raised. "Wh-Whoa Dean-o…”

"You're supposed to be dead."

"I could say the same thing about you. A few times over now."

Dean hesitated hardly a second more before he reached out and grabbed Gabriel by the shirt pushing him up against the door and aiming the gun beneath his chin. Gabriel did a good job playing stupid, going weak in Dean's strong grip and turning his head up with a gulp. "Okay! Okay bad joke--it's just me I swear! Ple-ease don't blow my head off, it's not like I can grow one back!" 

Dean's eyes narrowed. "You're mortal?"

Gabriel only took in a breath of relief when Dean had settled him firmly to the ground, smirking as he pointed over to Castiel who had stood up, half clinging to the quilt. "As mortal as your boyfriend over here. Congrats by the way. Knew you two would figure it out sooner or later."

"Dean. Let him go."

Dean turned his head finally to look back at Castiel who had closed a bit of distance between them, reaching up to hook Dean's elbow and pull his hand from Gabriel's shirt, stepping forward to place himself between his partner and his brother. Under Cas' scrutinizing blue gaze Gabriel held very, very still. This could go one of two ways very quickly and Gabriel was unsure which would win out. Cas grabbed him much like Dean had balling the front of Gabriel's shirt in his fist, pushing his elder brother back into the door, his lips pursed and nostrils flared. It seemed anger was winning right now but Gabriel didn't fight back. He just held his position meeting those sharp blue eyes.

They stood there for a tense minute just staring at one another in that odd way (ex) angels had about them. Like they were reading each other's thoughts even without the use of their grace. So it properly startled Gabriel when Cas' hold on his shirt fell and he was pulled into his little brother's grip. Hesitating just a moment Gabriel sunk into the contact, smiling to himself as he gripped Castiel in return, holding him in his arms. "H-Hey...s'alright Cassie," Gabriel said gently, patting him on the back. "I've got you, little brother."

Sam could act as well as the next decent hunter , but when it came to this, with both Dean and Cas expressing very real and varying emotions in response to the sight of Gabriel, who was apparently claiming to mortality now. Sam wasn't sure was the best idea because it would only create even more trouble when he admitted to having his grace still intact) and he didn't really want to test the waters by throwing his two cents in. So he watched at first as Dean moved on Gabriel with the gun, and barely managed to restrain himself from stepping in and pulling Dean off the archangel. He knew the guy wouldn't kill Gabriel, so he couldn't afford right now to blow whatever cover they had. 

The sight of Cas first exhibiting anger, probably one of the first times in a while Sam had seen him look really truly angry, Sam was kind of worried. And at the same time he really felt for Castiel. It had to be a real blow to see his brother who he'd thought dead, the first time he'd encountered any of his fallen brothers but he was kind of surprised to see the former angel letting go of that anger, and in a moment's movement Castiel had gathered Gabriel into his arms, and hugged him tightly. It didn't take much before it seemed Gabriel was hugging him back, too, and Sam felt a huge sense of relief.

Cas didn't let go for a long while, past the point of what Sam had once tried to explain to him was the 'uncomfortable' point unless the person he was hugging was Dean. But he did let go eventually, pulling himself together as he took a step back away from him. "Why didn't you find us before now?" He asked finally; it was perplexing as to why Gabriel would wait so long to come and find them, especially if he was human now, too. It seemed like the safest place to be would be with the Winchesters and he didn't understand why he'd keep himself secret from them, even if Dean still looked a whole lot less trusting and approving of Gabriel's presence. 

"Takes a while to get on your feet after a crash landing." That much was true for any fallen angel. Gabriel helped Cas as much as he could, orchestrating just the right amount of silent nudging for the ex angel to find his hunter again. A little part of Gabriel regretted not outright appearing to Cas when Gabriel discovered Heaven locked and the angels forced to earth. Castiel was his favorite sibling among the thousands of them and that was saying something. Seeing the concern and confusion etched on his face even made Gabriel want to confess but he couldn't hurt Castiel like that, not ever. So instead he would lie to protect him.

"That and I've been busy. Big brother duties and all," Gabriel chuckled weakly glancing over to Dean with a nod hoping that if anything they could understand each other on this. "I ran into some of our siblings and seeing as how I'm the only angel to spend any extended amount of time on earth--well I kind of had to start showing them the ropes..."

Gabriel went on to explain a doctored version of events that was sadly more truth than fiction. Saying he'd spent his time busing in more fallen, creating their own little town tucked away in Canada. "Which brings me to why I'm here..." Gabriel finished at last perched up on the dresser nursing a cup of coffee. He thought it best to accept the cup Castiel offered, sipping it occasionally only after adding milk and about 7 sugar packets to make it bearable. "I'm sure you've found people along the road, sometimes solo sometimes in pairs, people who died without IDs or names...they were fallen angels. Someone or something is hunting them...and I have reason to believe whoever's behind this most recently decimated the fallen I'd gathered together." The emotion in his voice wasn't fake though Gabriel had to keep a stiff wrangle on his grace lest the pain he felt burst his little bubble of a lie. It hurt just as badly now as it had when he'd found the wreckage and Gabriel's eyes turned hopefully up to Sam, a flicker of a smile on his lips before his gaze landed on his brother and he sighed.

"I thought they'd be safer together. Some four hundred fallen and humans slaughtered. That's why I'm here." Gabriel opened his free hand to Dean and Sam shaking his head. "You're the best hunters I know. If anyone can catch em it's the Winchesters."

Sam listened mostly silently to what Gabriel had to say, spending more of his time sneaking glances at Castiel and at Dean to see how they were taking it. From what Gabriel had said to him already, he knew that most of it was true, though some parts had definitely been doctored to keep up this story for Dean and Cas now that he'd started it. He nodded in response to the mention of finding some along the way. Only once had he tentatively suggested to Dean that it might be fallen angels that were dying off with little to no identification to their names, if they had names, but Dean had quietened Sam up the second he'd mentioned it, not wanting Castiel to know anything about it. Besides, there didn't seem to be a whole lot suspicious about their deaths for the most part, so they'd let it be for the time being. Sam figured that Gabriel handled it, but here he was, asking Sam and Dean for help.

Sam noted Castiel’s concerned look, knowing that he still blamed himself for all the angels falling, and while he may not be showing it outwardly, Sam knew he would probably not be taking this particularly well.

Sam waited until Gabriel finished, looking to Castiel again when he spoke of the four hundred that had been slaughtered so recently, before he looked to Dean instead as he moved to pour himself a cup of coffee from the half cold pot, and just drank it black as he thought aloud, "So, uh. I guess we need to figure out who or what would wanna kill all those fallen angels. D'you think it's a demon?"

"Seems like the most likely candidate." Gabriel had thought it to be demons but none had really been on the radar lately or else they were sticking to smaller game to avoid the eyes of hunters. "The little bastards are probably making up for the millennia of us being able to zap them with a touch." 

Gabriel watched Dean and Castiel over the rim of his cup as he sipped his coffee beside Sam. His brother's head was bowed and a quick sweep of his mind reminded Gabriel how much Castiel blamed himself. Gabriel rocked hesitantly on his perch forcing his gaze to Sam instead.

"What I want to know," Dean began, setting his gun down on the table and folding his arms over his chest. "Is how you managed to gather four hundred some odd people and angels together. Seems like a lot for one little guy."

"Little guy's got contacts--" Gabriel snarked in return. "I didn't spend all that time down here eating candy. I have people I can refer to as _friends_. So I put out an APB for people who had appeared with no names and IDs. Hospitals usually had whole wings of them and after getting them out and helping them get on their feet we scattered to find others."

"But you never came looking for me?" Castiel asked at last breaking the awkward daggers being thrown between Dean and Gabriel drawing the archangel's eyes back to the dark-haired man. Sliding off the dresser Gabriel shook his head softly, moving across the room to stand in front of Cas reaching out to ruffle his hair with a smile speaking softly in Enochian. “I never stopped looking out for you little brother." 

"So!" Gabriel called at last again in English grinning up to Dean and then back to Sam with a wink. "Who's hungry? I'm thinkin' waffles..."

Sam was pretty sure it had to be demons, or at least a demon. After all, what kind of enemies would a bunch of suddenly vulnerable angels have, other than a bunch of demons down below (and up on earth). But the problem was if it was a demon or group of demons then they were good. Keeping themselves well away from the radar of hunters and Gabriel. 

Sam completely ignored Gabriel and Dean's bickering, wishing Dean would just let the tiny holes in the story lie and stop picking at them, wished he would just focus on the potential for a job here and the fact that Castiel’s brothers were dead and going to die if they didn't do something. However at Castiel's comment Sam's attention was brought to the former angel, and he watched as Gabriel made his way over to him and said something to him in Enochian, at which point he shared a semi curious look with his brother. 

It wasn't long before Gabriel was back to himself and taking about breakfast, and at that point Sam pushed himself away from the counter and nodded, eager to get out of the motel room now. "Uh, we could get breakfast at the diner down the road and try and come up with a game plan while we eat?"

"That's the spirit, Sammy," Gabriel beamed, tucking his hands low into his pockets and turning on the spot to glance between the two Winchesters and then down to Castiel. "C'mon Cas. Let's go get a table." 

Gabriel reached out to take Cas' hand help him up off the bed but the dark-haired man stood up without assistance, nodding his head slowly and heading for the dresser to pull out some jeans. The room was quiet for a little while just the sound of Cas moving around and dressing himself in one of Dean's t-shirts, grabbing his coat from the chair Dean reached out to put a hand on his shoulders effectively stopping the ex angel. 

"We'll be there soon," Dean said more to Gabriel than to Cas and the gold eyed angel turned and bowed briefly to Dean before putting his arm around his brother and leading him out the door. Dean watched them go past the window, hearing Gabriel's voice carry clean around the corner before he moved, pacing up to Sam regarding his brother seriously.

"This is _not_ how I expected our morning going...we still have that ghost to gank. And am I wrong in being suspicious that Cas has a dream about Gabriel and he just _happens_ to show up on our doorstep?" Dean was still eyeing where the two ex-angels had walked through the door before he turned his gaze on his brother. "Coincidence?" 

Sam watched the interaction between Dean and Cas for only a second before looking away to Gabriel. Those kinds of things tended to make him just a little awkward, because the intimacy between them was so ridiculously high now that Sam was constantly a third wheel. He tried his best not to interfere, for both his sake and Dean and Cas'. 

When Dean said that they'd be there soon, and the two of them watched Gabriel and Cas going off together, Sam knew he was in trouble, or rather Gabriel was in trouble, which meant Sam would be too. In his mind he ran through all the possibilities of things that could be wrong with Gabriel's explanation, and landed on the correct one just as Dean was to explain it to him, and he inwardly cursed Gabriel for having such a necessity to be dramatic about everything. Of course He'd appear in a dream to Cas, when Cas hadn't had a single good dream since being human, and then show up on the doorstop of their motel room. He tucked away his frustration with the situation to deal with later, and licked his lips, running a hand through his hair in exasperation.

"I dunno, Dean. Coincidences happen. Maybe he saw Gabriel through the window this morning and it put the idea in his head or something." It was a feeble idea at best, but he didn't have much to go on. "But c'mon, it's not like he's trying to hurt us or Cas or something. Why would he need to lie to us? You know we've gotta help, anyway. They're innocent people and they're Cas' brothers and sisters, too."

"Isn't he?" Dean argued going to collect his coat, tucking his gun into the back of his jeans. Usually he might not carry his weapon to meals but now Dean was on edge. Maybe it was the sudden appearance of Gabriel or the nervousness that came with dealing with an unknown foe. It was one thing to be up against something they knew and understood, quite another to think of dealing with something they'd never seen before. It made things that much harder, that much more dangerous and Dean knew it.

"It's bad enough Cas is still coping with being human but now he gets a big brother back--who wants to drag him into this fight? He's not ready for this--"

It was perhaps the first time since the Fall that Dean had actively shown concern on Castiel's behalf. For the most part Dean had been supportive, eager in fact to show Cas how to be human even if it was frustrating. Castiel still sometimes tried to heal them both, sometimes tried to grab Dean by the shoulder in anticipation of zapping them to their next location only to be sorely disappointed. It had been a challenge from the get go but Dean had managed to shape the three of them into some sort of normalcy and Cas had finally seemed to have gotten the hang of being human.

"I just don't want him to regress you know?"

Sam sighed softly as he watched Dean tuck his gun into the back of his jeans, hating that he felt like he needed it. After a couple months of focusing on teaching Cas to be a human, and a hunter, and with Cas and Dean's 'profound bond' getting wholly more profound than it was before, Sam enjoyed watching Dean relax, bit by bit. Enjoyed watching him smile more, enjoyed watching him drink coffee instead of beer for breakfast and watching him go to sleep without all of his clothes, shoes, jacket on, enjoyed watching him not have to have an array of weapons tucked into his clothes when they went down the street to a diner for breakfast. And now because Gabriel was back and Dean was suspicious, Sam could see that he was on edge all over again.

He softened a little more at Dean's concern, though. Dean didn't often talk about this kind of stuff, his worry for Cas, and Sam was, in his own right, concerned about how this was gonna affect Cas. They all were, maybe Gabriel especially. He knew the archangel hadn't wanted to drag his little brother into this, and Sam didn't want to drag him into it either. But they didn't have a choice. 

"Yeah, I know what you mean, Dean. This is gonna be really tough on Cas, I know. But we don't have a choice, innocent people are dying, and they're all Cas' family, Gabe's too. And you know Castiel's not gonna want to leave this now that he knows about it." He told his brother, moving to grab his jacket and then to the door to open it and wait for Dean.

Dean followed Sam after throwing on his coat and moving out into the nippy fall air. It was chilly, and the leaves were only just turning orange, but there was still a summer sun rising in the east washing away the darkness. Another night and likely another attack but they wouldn't hear about that yet...

Instead they'd arrive at Alice's diner at the end of the block where their motel sat. The diner was typical, old and family run with a surly looking teenager acting as fry cook and a bubbly blonde as waitress who looked like she'd rather be anywhere else this early on a Thursday morning. She started to walk to the end of the counter to escort them to a seat but Dean waved her off with a polite smile. 

"We're with those guys," Dean gestured to the booth that had Castiel sitting in sipping yet another cup of coffee like it was the mana of life. And to Cas it probably was, his blue eyes fixed across the table where Gabriel sat speaking softly in Enochian again. 

Gabriel hoped getting Castiel on his own would have eased the tension bleeding between them. Cas was nervous for obvious reasons. People who died, especially those who die on the end of an angel blade, don't come back. So he tried to keep things easy, casual, cracking jokes in an effort to make his brother smile or even just look at him again. 

"C'mon Cassie..." he said at last, shifting to English when he felt the presence of the Winchester's slip in the door. "You're not gonna give me the silent treatment this whole time are you?" 

The look Castiel gave Gabriel told him that's exactly what the ex-angel planned to do. When Dean arrived Cas scooted over dutifully leaving room for Dean to join him and the hunter pecked his cheek in greeting before shooting his gaze back over to Gabriel, who scooted over to let Sam into his side of the booth. Flashing Dean a small smile Gabriel turned his eyes to Sam, offering him the pot of coffee while he sipped his own. 

Needless to say it was a tense table to sit at. When the waitress came around for their orders even she shivered when she walked away with their orders for pancakes, waffles and eggs. Gabriel ordered the chocolate chip pancakes off the kids menu without so much as an embarrassed glance, not even when Dean narrowed his eyes and shook his head. "Some things don't change, do they?" 

"Nope," Gabriel said simply as he poured some extra sugar into his coffee before he settled at last beside Sam resisting the urge to lean into him again. Instead he found himself resting his fingers in the space between them, the brief warm contact making Gabriel brave again. He cleared his throat to draw attention to himself and looked pointedly, seriously, from Dean to Sam and back again. "Look---I know we haven't gotten along before but that's in the past now, right? So whatever grudge you've got against me it'll really be a whole lot easier if we let bygones be bygones and get along. Think we can do that?"

Sam’s gaze constantly traveled between the two men and one archangel, everyone with different emotions on their faces Sam was quickly tired of Dean's suspicious and untrusting behavior, as much as he understood why he was feeling that, Gabriel really wasn't doing anything wrong now. If anyone knew it he and Dean ought to know that when it came to stuff like this, letting the past just be the past was probably the best. And picking at little things like what kind of pancakes Gabriel wanted was just tiring. After all, he was still a trickster, and he still had a sweet tooth. And Sam refused to think about anything else related to that little fact about him.

He poured his coffee and added just a little sugar as he waited to see if Dean was going to accept Gabriel's words, which at this point was a reasonable request and as much as he didn't want to take sides here he still found himself leaning towards Gabriel. If nothing else Dean needed to get along with Gabriel so that it wouldn't cause more drama for Cas and so that they could figure all of this out and stop who or whatever was killing the fallen angels. That was the priority here, and if nothing else Dean needed to do this for Cas.

"I gotta agree with Gabriel, Dean. I know he's done some.. Really crappy stuff in the past," He gave a pointed look to Gabriel for good measure, even as his hand moved to the space between them brushed the backs of his knuckles against Gabriel's hand. "But the priority is so not how we feel about Gabriel being here. People are dead and dying and they need our help, so I guess we're gonna have to put all this aside for now at least."

Dean's head snapped forward when Sam began to speak up for Gabriel, his eyebrows shooting up into his hair and he leaned forward to whisper angrily glaring between his brother and the archangel. "Need I remind you this is the guy who hit you in the nuts and turned you into a car? Oh and did we forget he killed me about a thousand times---and not to mention torture you with it?"

"It was to make a point--" Gabriel argued weakly.

Dean interrupted him forcing Gabriel to sink back into the booth. “It was a shitty thing to do," Dean snapped and finally Gabriel held himself back, nodding his head in agreement.

"It was and I am sorry for it. More sorry than you realize." Gabriel let out a heavy sigh as he leaned forward staring pointedly at Dean while he settled back into his seat beside Cas who seemed very interested in how his coffee was blending together with the cream. 

"I was an asshole, is that what you want to hear? I was a Major Asshole and if it makes you feel better you can freakin' call me that from here till judgement day but this is my family, Dean. And I can't stand to see anymore of them hurt." 

Dean sat very still after Gabriel's tirade the two elder siblings at the table looking at each sternly even as the waitress returned with their food steaming hot and ready. The four of them got settled with their food before Dean spoke again, starting to hack into his pancakes which were soaked and sticky with syrup. 

"Fine--" he finally admitted getting Gabriel's shoulders to sink in relief, as he pulled his plate towards himself picking off a chocolate chip to pop into his mouth. "We'll help. But don't think you're gonna get away with being a trickster again just because you're human--" he threatened with his fork jabbed in the archangel's direction. Gabriel made no further fuss, holding up his free hand up in the shape of a Boy Scout salute.

"On my honor--no trickster-caliber pranks from me."

Sam really, really didn't need the reminder. He could never forget those thousands of Tuesdays watching Dean die in every way conceivable, could never forget living imaginary months without Dean, or that damn Herpexia commercial. The lesson Gabriel was trying to teach him by killing Dean in front of him all those times was a harsh one, unimaginably so, but it was the past. The car thing however, Sam did plan on getting revenge over Gabriel for at some point. 

When they finally kissed and made up, or as close to as Gabriel and Dean were ever going to get, Sam finally touched Gabriel’s outstretched fingers and shot him the briefest of looks out the corner of his eye before he finally let go of his hand, and actually started to eat. "Glad we got that cleared up, kinda." He said, after swallowing the first mouthful of pancake. "Now can we please focus on how we're gonna find whatever's after the fallen?"

"After breakfast," Dean said around his mouthful of pancakes and Gabriel nodded his agreement catching the elder brother’s watchful eyes before he too began to devour his chocolate pancakes, flashing Dean a smile that got the hunter to roll his eyes. Gabriel had a feeling mending fences with Dean would not be simple but he was willing to take on the challenge. Willing for the sake of Sam and Cas and all his brothers and sisters out there that were in danger from whatever foe was out there.

"You should really try some of this, Cas," Gabriel said with a grin holding out a bite of chocolate chip pancakes to Castiel who was smearing a bagel sky high with cream cheese. At first he seemed to decline it then nodded his head silently to the plate where Gabriel deposited it and returned to his food. Breakfast after that seemed to be--well normal. They ate in silence and drank their coffee. Gabriel watched out the window at the people passing by and Castiel kept his hand in Dean's across the table. Now and again Dean would shoot a meaningful look up at Sam before his eyes fell back to his plate and he finished off the last of his syrupy pancakes.

Castiel left the chocolate chip pancake for last biting into it when the rest of the plates had been cleared and Gabriel had ordered for them a fresh pot of coffee. "Okay...so we know they can single out fallen angels," Dean began dutifully as the waitress disappeared behind the counter to fill their coffee order. "There are many demons who are as old as angels," Castiel said softly from beside Dean, looking much more awake now after half a dozen cups of coffee and a hot breakfast. 

"But there haven't been many demons around lately--" Gabriel went on to say, shrugging his shoulder while he dipped his finger in the whipped cream left on his plate sucking it noisily off his finger.

"And how do you know that?" Dean asked, failing to keep the snark out of his tone. The restraint is not lost on Gabriel and he would return the courtesy with a simple shrug. 

"You know as well as I do Dean-o, once you get a glimpse at the other side it's kind of hard to forget. And you can't just sit around knowing what's out there and not want to do something about it." Some strange silent understanding seemed to pass between the two men and they both seemed to noticeably relax. 

"We still should not rule them out. Just because they aren't gathering as much as they usually do doesn't mean it can't be a small patrol," Cas murmured starting to drum his fingers along the side of his mug his blue eyes calm and calculating. 

"Maybe more Knights?" Dean suggested looking to Sam at last. "You said Abbadon smoked out--who's to say she didn't dip down below for reinforcements?"

Sam ate his breakfast and spent a whole lot of time watching the three, especially Cas, still unsure of what he was feeling and whether he was okay or not. For the most part things seemed to be at least a little more settled down, and hopefully the focus would shift from Gabriel and what he may have done in the past to the dying fallen angels all over the world. 

When everyone had finished their breakfasts there was a moment of silence before Dean spoke up, and Sam eagerly awaited more coffee to be brought back to their table. He was a little surprised to find Cas speaking up already, though he had to admit he was glad to see him looking more awake than usual. Sometimes it took up to eight cups of coffee to get him to this point, though to be fair the morning they'd had had definitely been a sobering one. He found himself becoming just a little distracted when he saw Gabriel sucking whipped cream off his finger, and he missed about half of what Gabriel said following that fact. Sam only looked away when Dean spoke to him. He shifted carefully in his seat, moving closer to Gabriel. He bumped the angel’s knee and forced himself to pay attention. "Uh, yeah, I mean it's a real option. It seems the most likely at this point, this doesn't fit the MO of anything else we've faced. Hell, this kinda thing has never come even close to happening before, whoever's doing it definitely has a pretty clear agenda and they have enough brains to know exactly what they're doing and how to do it."

"And that's the scariest part," Gabriel acknowledged, turning his knee to press into Sam's, reveling in the contact. He wasn't about to admit it (pretending to be human or otherwise) how much this villain actually scared him. Just their abilities alone gave him due cause to be afraid. If they could identify Fallen on sight they would know instantly Gabriel was still locked and loaded in the Grace department. That meant turning these creatures attention on the four of them, three of whom were painfully mortal. 

"So we research up the rest of the knights," Dean suggested. "How many are there anyway?" 

"Three hundred and twenty-six," both Castiel and Gabriel quoted on command both of them looking at Dean as if they were saying 'Aw, lookit the little human'. Dean's eyes bugged a moment and he choked on his coffee. Castiel reached up to pat his back before glancing across to Gabriel who was hiding his smile but only barely. 

"Only about ten of the original knights survived the last big onslaught, though there's no way to tell if any of the ranks were promoted," Gabriel explained while he stirred the remaining whipped cream into his coffee. "That was one hell of a plunder, remember that Cassie??"


	3. Chapter 3

Getting used to life with Gabriel was like night and day, as far as Sam was concerned. Life certainly got a little more playful than it had been in the past. Dean was annoyed by Gabriel, convinced that there was something more going on than Gabriel was letting on and Sam (God help him) continued to convince his brother it was nothing, not wanting to give up Gabriel’s secret until he did it himself.

It got so bad with the four of them sharing a room that Sam eventually suggested they split up in order to both give Dean and Cas some space and grant Gabriel the privacy to come and go as he pleased without having to answer to either of their brothers about where he was going and when he’d be back. And while Dean was sure Gabriel would make an awful roommate Sam found it easy to work around him. Their only bump in the road happening when Sam had gone into their bathroom to brush his teeth only to find Gabriel in a claw foot tub (that had most certainly not been there before) taking a bubble bath with a rubber duck dressed in a Hawaiian shirt.

They were on the road for a few months when Sam had gotten rather used to a routine with Gabriel. After dinner and research with Dean and Cas they’d separate to their designated rooms and for a few hours he and Gabriel just hung out, watching television or just talking about anything that wasn’t hunting for a little while. Gabriel told him about ancient cities and history he’d never find a book, described amazing sights for him in such wondrous detail that Sam would swear he’d been there, standing right next to the archangel. It made Sam forget for a little while what danger was still waiting outside for them when the door opened tomorrow morning.

When Sam was ready for bed Gabriel got ready to go, telling Sam where he was going and what he needed to do. Most nights Gabriel went searching for other Fallen but sometimes it seemed he was going into dangerous territory. Those nights Gabriel didn’t go into much detail about what he was doing and made jokes instead which only made Sam more nervous when he finally said goodbye and disappeared. 

Every morning though Sam would wake up to Gabriel shuffling through the limited access cable channels, usually watching infomercials and asking loudly why anyone would need a spout you can stab into a milk carton or something. Until one morning he wasn’t…

Sam woke late to the sounds of a late morning thunderstorm, looking around for his phone to check the time. Ten o’clock in the morning was pretty late to get started Sam thought as he swung his legs out of bed and went to knock on the door separating his room from Dean's. Gabriel and his oddball way of waking him up had been a pretty reliable alarm clock so Sam had forgot to set one. Not that they really had anywhere to go. They had already ganked the witch in town and tomorrow would send them who knows where if they didn't decide to stick around for a while to make sure the job was done. 

"Gabriel?" 

No answer. Sam just shrugged it off and went about his business in the bathroom thinking maybe Gabriel was already down finishing off the continental breakfast downstairs and would be back by the time he was done. Sam ended up counting the times he brushed his teeth while he watched in the mirror expecting at any moment he'd expect to be startled by some ridiculous face in the mirror. But nothing came...

There was no Gabriel outside, no Gabriel downstairs, no Gabriel next door, no Gabriel anywhere.

Sam hadn't realized he'd lapped the hotel twice until Dean stopped him with at least a dozen danishes stacked in a few napkins.

"Have you seen Gabriel?"

"No," Dean scoffed. "Not after I slammed the door on his nose for that fake snake shit."

"That was around eleven and he left at twelve-thirty..."

Dean's scowl fell deep between his brows for a moment. "Where did he have to go at twelve-friggin-thirty?"

Sam could've kicked himself. "I don't know--bar?" he lied, figuring it was the most believable of all of them. "He spotted that karaoke bar when we drove into town remember? Maybe...maybe he went there. I guess he hasn't made it back yet."

Dean's suspicious stare hardened and Sam worried he might be caught before his brother scoffed. " _I_ wanted to go to that friggin karaoke bar," he muttered as he went by and up the stairs back to his hotel room, surely about to shower Cas in Cisco-brand Pastries. Sam trailed after him slowly, still looking up and down the parking lot. Gabriel's cherry-red Chevelle was hard to miss, still parked alongside the Impala, untouched since yesterday. The bar was within walking distance though, Sam reasoned, unlocking the door. Maybe he should get his coat on and go down there to see if anyone had seen him. 

So when Sam spotted the archangel sitting on his bed upon his return, Sam didn't pause to question or overthink; he acted.

He had just enough time to appreciate the surprise in Gabriel's expression as he slammed the door and hauled the golden-eyed man from his spot on the bed into a sudden and fierce kiss. 

Now, Gabriel has been kissed hundreds-thousands-millions of times before but he can't remember having a kiss quite like this. Even thinking back on his last one with Kali back in Elysium Fields there hadn't been quite so much emotion in it. Then again being a goddess of destruction Gabriel supposed Kali would have lost those a long, long time ago. Perhaps Gabriel had too, or at the very least forgotten them until now...

Cupping the hunter's head Gabriel kissed him back with all the burning emotion he felt in his chest, his grace pulsing in time with his heartbeat. 

Pulling Gabriel up into his arms earned Sam a noise from the other man that was entirely undignified, but he rejoiced in it. If Gabriel could make those noises it meant he was alright and that Sam had been panicking for nothing. "Don't do that," he groaned as they fell onto the bed, pinning the smaller man beneath him as his mouth moved down his throat and Gabriel's hand moved down his shirt.

Immediately the golden-eyed man pulled his hand free, holding them up in surrender but Sam was displeased with that too. Groaning as he pulled up to look down at Gabriel, Sam's eyes were dark with desire as he looked over the vulnerable angel beneath him.

"What?" Gabriel asked, pink-cheeked and staring unblinking because he didn't want to miss a moment of this. "You--said don't do that, so I stopped doing what I was doing because you said _don't do that_ ," the angel stammered on, waving his hands about animatedly until Sam finally caught them and pinned them to the bed, filling the space between them till it was almost gone.

"I meant," Sam went on slower now that he'd caught his breath and the relief of Gabriel being okay had started to die away. "I meant don't scare me like that. I didn't see you all morning--"

"I was just a little late--" Gabriel tried to argue but Sam interrupted him by using his full weight to pin him to the mattress at last.

"You're never late," Sam scolded him and for once Gabriel actually felt bad for making Sam worry so much, even if he didn't mind where it had taken them. Tentatively he leaned up to close the leftover space between their lips and kissed Sam slow and sweet. There'd be an awkward talk over this to be sure but for now both just wanted to enjoy the moment.

"I didn't--mean to--scare you," Gabriel murmured between kisses, taking his time getting to know the finer points of Sam's mouth.

"Make it--up to me--later," Sam replied in kind, releasing Gabriel's hands at last so he could hold the back of the archangel's head, turning him the way he wanted and relishing in the fact that Gabriel was letting him at all. Gabriel surely had the strength to push him away with ease but the will had been sapped from his vessel. And Sam found it all kinds of hot to think Gabriel trusted him like this...

Quite suddenly Gabriel turned his head up from Sam's lips, letting them fall to his throat as he sucked in a breath of air to rasp out. "Someone's coming--"

_Knock-knock-knock._

"S'for you," Gabriel muttered with a small pout and no sooner had he spoken than Dean's voice echoed through the door.

"Sammy? Open up!"

Gabriel didn't answer, certain his wicked grin gave him away, so he popped himself up onto the bed farthest from the door. Though he would love to figure out what he could say to Dean that would be a viable lie as to why Gabriel was sprawled out on the bed he could tell before Sam opened the door that the news would not be good. And sure enough Dean's face was drawn into a scowl and even Gabriel could feel the not-so-awesome vibes just dripping off his countenance. "We just caught something on the scanner--middle aged white male found strung up in a tree--" he started and already Gabriel was getting up off the bed squeezing in beside Sam with his eyes wide as Dean answered his unasked question. "They found him alive."

"That's not the usual MO," Sam mused aloud, his eyes flickering from one hunter to the other before he saw Cas already loading a duffle bag into the back of the Impala. 

"We know," Dean said matter-of-factly nodding his head back to the car. "Figured you and I can slip in to talk to the cops if Gabe and Cas can get in to see the Fallen and find out if he knows anything." 

Gabriel appeared at the door, immaculately dressed as he pushed past Sam and Dean to go help Cas. "That shouldn't be a problem--hey Cas! I'll help--!"

Dean let the former archangel slide by before glancing back to Sam and giving him a once over, his green eyes regarding his brother carefully as if trying to see some sort of flaw in the facade. "Y'alright there Sammy?"

Sam was suspicious when Dean's expression didn't budge, scowl firmly in place. But the second Dean explained what was going on, Sam was all business, the expression that could be called a tad bitchy if you wanted to get on Sam's bad side, dropping, and instead he watched Sam cautiously and listened to what Dean said. Before he could say anything Gabriel was at his side and musing on the peculiarity of the case. The fallen angels were human, and even those who fought back weren't gonna be the most talented fighters, because fighting as a human was a hell of a lot different to fighting as an angel, that much was made evident by the new scars on Cas' body that were all his and not Jimmy's. So it was a mystery as to why whoever was doing this, would leave this one alive. Hell, once you've got a guy strung up to a tree how hard can it be to off him?

He watched Gabriel rush off to help Cas, wondering if he and Dean would suit up to get something out of the cops, or if they'd pull the curious civilian shtick. But it wasn't a moment before he noticed Dean looking him over suspiciously, making his skin feel too tight, making him kind of worry that he had sex hair or a hickey or something giving him away. "Uh, yeah, totally, why wouldn't I be?" He answered, maybe a hair too quick, but he was quick to move on. "So I'm wondering if maybe whatever's stringing up the fallen angels left this guy alive to send a message or something."

There was something _off_ about his brother. Dean couldn't see anything but he could feel it and as a hunter he had to go on his gut often enough to know when it was right. Dean was just about to ask what had happened when Sam surged on instead. Dean let it drop for the moment, heading back up to the room so he and Sam could suit up. "That's the idea. I'm hoping between Cas and Gabriel they'll be able to set the guy at ease and figure out just what that message is." Dean stopped talking for the time being while he changed, using a washcloth to wipe any dirt off his face and scrub his hands pink. They'd only just gotten off a hunt, but with this fresh lead they were denied the luxury of time which they could've used to take a shower and instead Dean had come here and gotten--debriefed. 

"Dean?" Castiel called from the door as Dean finished slinging the tie around his neck moving up to open it to Castiel with Gabriel propped against his own Chevelle looking antsy. "Gabriel and I are going to head to the hospital in his car. I believe it'll be less suspicious if we arrive with two Federal agents in the same car." 

"Good call," Dean complimented with a proud smirk. Sometimes Cas still surprised him when it came to hunting but then again Dean had to remind himself on more than one occasion Cas was a warrior by breeding and while he was human now the training he'd endured in heaven was probably the angelic equivalent of how Dean had been trained and made him a hunter by calling. "Sam and I'll be right behind you." 

The hum of the engine as it pulled away found Dean fixing his tie in the mirror looking at his brother's reflection while he changed. He puzzled again silently over Sam’s strange behavior, while he readjusted his tie. "Wanna take the lead on this one?" he offered while he hunted down his keys tossing them in the air before slipping them into his pocket. 

Sam was relieved Dean didn't say anything more about what was off about him. He didn't have an excuse, hell, anything he said would probably raise more questions. He knew he was being pretty weird, and he wasn't sure how to hide it, because it wouldn't really work against Dean to do any more than omit the truth. To go over the top or to lie to Dean would be to sell himself down the river because Dean would know for sure how to see through those lies, especially if it came to lying about how he was around Gabriel. He nodded at Dean's words, grateful that they could focus on the weirdness of the case. He followed Dean to the bathroom to wash himself after, for appearances more than anything, because he was already cleaned up totally from Gabriel's angel mojo. He ran a wet comb through his hair to push it back and make sure it wasn't all over the place though, and then started getting geared up in his suit.

Sam arched an eyebrow at the proud smirk Dean directed at Cas, smiling just a little, before he shifted to look at Gabriel where the archangel was leaning against his car, looking a little off, which was fair enough. He turned back to Dean as he fixed his tie and smoothed down his collar, humming his agreement to taking the lead on their fed job. "Yeah, I'll take the lead," he agreed easily, waiting for Dean to go out to shut and lock the door behind them, once he had his gun tucked into the back of his pants.

He went straight for the Impala's trunk once out, finding the box that contained all their IDs, and rooted through them before he looked over at Dean, holding up two of the FBI IDs they had. "Agent Cliff and Agent Marley work for you?" He asked, hiding the box away and shutting the boot again before he made his way around to the passenger side of the car, watching as Gabriel's flashy car pulled out of the motel lot.

With an answering nod from Dean, Sam threw Dean one of the IDs, not really caring which, either way he blamed Dean for making sure at least half their IDs shared the same names as celebrities, especially musicians in some of Dean's favorite classic rock bands, coincidentally enough. When it was Sam's turn to grab a couple IDs he tended to go for the more pedestrian names, but in Dean's favor, very rarely had anyone ever pulled them up on the names, and when they did it was usually someone commenting on how much of a coincidence it was. The ride there was more or less quiet, listening to classic rock station as they both thought it through. 

It wasn't likely that they'd find a whole lot that was gonna be all that important to their research at the crime scene, unless there was an actual message at the scene, symbolic or no, the only thing that was gonna give them anything was whether they found sigils or something, and a big tell would be whether they could find sulfur at the scene, but hell, that was gonna be a long shot, too. It was likely Gabriel and Castiel would find more from the surviving fallen angel, and Sam hoped the guy was in good condition, both for his sake and for theirs. The sooner they found out why the killer changed their MO to leave one alive, the better. Whether it was because it was getting sloppy, or because it had a message that it wanted out there. Honestly he kind of hoped the message wasn't for them specifically, because the last thing he wanted was for this thing to know about Gabriel. 

When they neared the crime scene, tape was put up already, and Sam saw various forensic specialists littered around the scene as well as cops. Sam and Dean were all business when they climbed out of the car, heading over to the scene past the cop cars and climbing over the tape like they owned the place, and when an officer came over to them to tell them they couldn't be here he looked to Dean, they shared a slight nod and Sam took the lead as the officer began to speak. 

"Uh, you can't be in here this is a crime scene, please step back over the tape." He said dutifully, like he'd said it a couple times to a couple people already, and ushered them towards the tape, but Sam just gave his best professional-placating smile. 

"Hi, I'm Agent Cliff and this is my partner Agent Marley, we got a call from the deputy to come by and take a look." Both Winchesters flashed their badges as Sam introduced them, but the officer looked skeptical even so.

"Why would he call you guys in? We barely know anything yet." 

"We're following a string of murders, it's mostly classified. We need to take a look at the scene and we'll need to know what evidence you've found so far."Sam explained, tucking his ID back into his pocket. He smirked just a little as the officer followed his commands, getting that rush he'd gotten lately that came with being able to get back in the game. Sam could be plenty commanding and even intimidating when he wanted to be, and that just didn't work at all when he'd been sick, half dead, looking and sounding like the weakest and sickliest person on the planet. It was good to be back, and that much was obvious as he and Dean followed and listened to what the officer was telling them about what they knew so far, heading over to the tree where the former angel had been strung up.

Dean kept his proud smile to himself while the officer escorted them to the tree that was blocked off with rounds of yellow police tape, ducking his head to go beneath it before he nodded to the officer dismissing him from the scene. Sam had been out of the game for so long he worried that his brother might be hesitant but just as Sam had surprised him in his recovery Sam surprised him now and he let his brother lead them on. 

When the tree came into view Dean knew it right away as if he'd seen it before though he was certain he hadn't. It was a tall, wide tree, old by the looks of it and of all the still-green trees in the forest this one was left completely bare. Rope--no, wires--had been tangled throughout the tree limbs focusing in on a coil of wire in the center where the body of the Fallen must've been strung up. 

"Well--this doesn't look ominous or anything," Dean snarked as he moved slowly around the tree, his eyes glancing around the base of the tree for symbols or blood or footprints but the ground around the tree seemed as undisturbed as the tree itself. Speaking of which..."Hey Sammy give me a boost would ya?" Dean waited till his brother came over, bracing himself on his shoulder and pushing up to stand on a thick root to get a better look from above. For Dean however it didn't surprise him the size of the wires it was that the tree itself did not show any cracks or torn up bark where the wires had been lashed around the fragile wood. Reaching up to the closest wire Dean tugged on it until it snapped out of place leaving a depression in the wood where it had begun to grow around the wires over time. "Check it out," Dean said quietly using the wire in his hand to climb back down the tree tugging at it until it popped free of another indentation.

"These have been here for a long time..." he said quietly dropping the wire and wiping his hands. "Long enough that tree started growing around them. Someone's been planning this..." But who and why and how could someone have known to prepare this? Unless they knew that someday the angels would fall and they were preparing for them...for whenever that would be. "No one knew Metatron was going to boot the angels out of heaven, right? I mean Cas didn't even know what the bastard was up to until it was too late..." 

Sam stood beside Dean and leaned up to see where the wire had come out of, and brought a hand up to trace the indentation, frowning. He turned back to Dean when he gave his findings, and God did it give more questions than answers, the kinds of questions that just made this a hell of a lot more confusing, and hell of a lot more serious. 

"No one could've known," He agreed, lifting a hand to run his fingers back through his hair as he sighed, looking back up at the twisted bare branches of the tree and the wire curled and tangled in those branches and around the thick of the tree, the wires that had the former angel strung up cut, making it easier to pull off. 

"Someone's got to have been planning this, which means they're doing this for some pretty specific reason, surely they can't be chasing down former angels just for the hell of this if they've been planning this for what's gotta be a couple years at least. Or they've been in cahoots with Metatron, but that only raises more questions." 

Nothing added up. In fact, all they got were more questions, more worries. And damn it if this wasn't too close to home for Sam to really start getting antsy. "I'm gonna call Cas and see what they know," He told Dean, pulling out his phone. Sam couldn't help but shift a little nervously where he stood as he waited for Cas to pick up, wanting to know that neither Gabriel or Castiel had ended up into some kinda trouble on their own, and at the same time he wanted to know if they'd found anything out, so they could figure out who they were dealing with as fast as possible. He didn't want any more ex-angels dying, and he hated to say it but more than that, so much more than that, he wanted to make certain in his mind that Castiel and Gabriel weren’t in danger.

~~~~~~~~~~

"They'll be fine without you," Gabriel said gently glancing over to Castiel from the driver's seat. His brother was concerned and it practically bled off him in waves, enough so that Gabriel could feel the almost imperceptible twitching of his wings wanting to draw his little brother in for a proper embrace. Castiel didn't look at him but nodded knowingly reaching out to touch the radio before remembering (apparently) Dean's number one rule in the Impala: Driver picks the music. Shotgun shuts his cake hole. "Put on whatever you want," Gabriel said dismissively leaning back into the white leather interior and cruising down the road with his elbow hanging out the window.

It was odd, he thought as they drove, that the demon/monster/assassin would suddenly decide to stop killing Fallen. They'd made it look so easy before, hell it seemed like after a while they were making a damn game of it. So why leave this one alive? There were two possibilities Gabriel had come up with soon as Dean had told him the Fallen was found alive. Either A) Their tormentor had a message for them and a survivor would be the best way to deliver it or B) Whoever was doing this had been interrupted in the process of the murder and never got to finish...which meant they needed to get there fast before the murderer returned to finish the work.

"Who do you think it will be?" Castiel asked at last drawing Gabriel out of his musings. He'd settled on some classic rock station and Lynyrd Skynyrd was burning up the airwaves. Gabriel glanced to his brother and shook his head. 

"No way of telling now, is there?" Gabriel said warmly letting his hand out the window to battle the breeze while his foot pressed down on the gas a little harder in his earnest to get to the hospital. "Personally I'm hoping it's someone with a sense of humor. There are so many hardcore ex-angels out there I'm damn tired of having to teach them how to friggin' smile."

"Maybe some of them don't want to smile," Castiel said halfheartedly and settled back into the seat, his eyes focused on his fingers that were twisted together there as if he were holding hands. Gabriel swallowed his response letting Castiel go on his voice getting softer with each word. "They were kicked out of Heaven. It's not necessarily something to smile about."

"But you can't go mourning it for the rest of your life," Gabriel said, easing off the gas as they entered town following the large letter H's on the roadside towards the hospital. "In case you haven't figured it out yet Cas your time is now kind of limited. How many years do you think you have left? Thirty? Forty? Hell less than that if you plan on sticking with 'being a hunter' as your occupation--"

"Does that mean I can't miss it?" Castiel insisted suddenly, interrupting Gabriel and continuing on in the stunned silence that followed his outburst. "Does that mean we're supposed to just forget about our home and smile and act like everything's okay? Because that's what you did?" 

Gabriel pursed his lips at that and refused to meet Castiel's gaze though he could practically feel the blue orbs searing into his skin and into the grace resting below it. That was a low blow. He left for completely different reasons and yes, for a while, he missed it until he realized all that he was missing in his mourning so he put on a happy face and pretended he didn't care. For centuries it had been his armor and his shield from having to deal with his siblings and his family up above and yes he'd made the most of it having as much fun as he ever wanted to have. 

"It was different--"

"Is it?"

"Yes!" Gabriel shouted. "It's different because I had centuries, millenniums to learn how to pretend not to care! You've got just a few years Cas, can you just fathom that with me for a second? You have a mere thirty to forty years to live your life with Dean and be happy! Years were like seconds for us, remember? We could watch the whole of an empire rise and fall in an hour and nevermind that it took humanity centuries to build those monuments and castles and roads. Every goddamn second counts now Cas--" Gabriel pulled them into a stall at the Hospital parking garage stopping with a jolt as he threw the car into park and cut the engine turning to face his brother with genuine tears in his eyes. 

"And I don't want to see you waste one minute of being happy with Dean worrying about the bullshit that went down upstairs and torture yourself by trying to figure out what you might've done to make it different. Because that won't unlock the doors and won't put us all back on our puffy clouds. So please little brother," Gabriel reached out and gripped Castiel's shoulder firmly offering him a weak smile. "Please just be happy for what you have and not what you've lost...?"

Castiel stared at Gabriel with a look that reminded the archangel of a lost puppy, but rather than respond, Castiel merely shook his head and climbed out of the car. Gabriel took a moment to collect himself before he followed Cas into the hospital. He wished he could just tell Cas that one day it'd stop hurting and that soon the memories of heaven would be distant and faint and then, Gabriel hoped, then Cas could finally focus on being happy instead of being miserable.

Gabriel stood back while Castiel took the lead. To be honest he was surprised to see his little brother taking the initiative, coming up with a believable story for the nurses while charming them into revealing the John Doe's room number. "Pretty impressive bro," Gabriel said proudly as they rode the elevator up to the seventh floor. Castiel used a combination of innocence and charm, that he no doubt picked up from Dean, that Gabriel might've used not long ago if Cas had been unable to work his "people skills".

"Dean's been teaching me," Cas explained over the elevator muzak. "With Sam being ill I had to step up." 

Gabriel nodded and tucked his hands deep into his pocket. Of course. Up until he'd shown up to heal Sam a few months ago it had been just Dean and Cas while Sam kept to his bed and research to keep himself from going crazy. Dean had to have someone to go hunt with and if Cas was serious about being a hunter, the more real experience he got the better chance he had to survive. 

"Well he's done good," Gabriel insisted stepping out onto the seventh floor landing feeling a chill rush down his spine.

Cas must've felt it too because he hesitated as well and glanced up and down the hall for the room they were looking for. Reaching out with his grace Gabriel tried to identify anything supernatural in the vicinity only to come up blank. "You feel that?" He asked and Cas nodded before he led the charge down the hall to the left. following the rising numbers to room thirty-four. Oddly enough here on this floor there were no nurses wandering the halls, no odd beeping coming through an open door. Not even the drone of a TV met their ears behind the shut doors which only added to the creep factor. Gabriel kept close, turning to walk backwards behind Castiel protecting his flank until they could draw close to the door and enter. 

The moment the door shut behind them Gabriel could feel the difference in the room, It was like the door kept the chill in the hall at bay. The hospital room was standard white with two beds, one of which was empty the other shielded by a cloth curtain. It's occupant however seemed to be awake because he spoke in a familiar English tone. "Has someone _finally_ come to check my vitals? Honestly what sort of hospital is this?"

"No one's been in to see you?" Gabriel asked unable to stop himself. His outburst earned him an angry look from Castiel who hoped to use their presence as a surprise. He gestured Gabriel forward with a quick jerk of his hand. 

"No! And I'd rather like to speak to the management if you don't mind--" the voice spoke and Gabriel had a feeling he knew who he'd see when he finally drew up and pulled back the curtain and sure enough...

"Balthazar--" Gabriel whispered breathlessly his gold eyes going wide. Balthazar hardly looked like Balthazar anymore though he could just see tufts of blonde hair peeking out the wrappings around his head. He was covered head to toe in dark bloodied bandages that looked like the quick fixes the EMTs had put on him. They didn't seem as if they'd been changed since he had been loaded in the ambulance and Gabriel could see dirt still caked on the exposed skin between them.

Balthazar's blue eyes widened when they fell on Gabriel and he uttered 'brother' in Enochian so softly Gabriel thought he hadn't heard him. "You can't be here," he said suddenly. 

"Dad's got a weird sense of humor, obviously---" Gabriel began but Balthazar tried to sit up suddenly only resulting in him falling back with a cry of pain. 

"Hold on," Castiel finally said from behind him and Gabriel glanced back to see him pulling open the drawers in the hospital room pulling out fresh bandages and ointment and most importantly--whatever painkillers they could find. 

"Cassie?" Balthazar asked incredulously when the dark-haired man crossed to the other side of his bed, looking at him as if he could still see the halo on his head.

"Hello Balthazar."

"You killed me."

"I know."

"I deserved it."

"I know."

"So why are you helping me?"

Castiel went silent for a minute before he just stared at Balthazar. The look wasn't surprised or worried or even sarcastic. Castiel just stared in that odd way of his until Balthazar just shook his head starting to speak again. "You can't be here--"

Balthazar let out a hiss as Castiel began to unwrap the bandages on his right arm exposing the wounds cut into them. The action stopped him from speaking for the time being and Gabriel had a moment to look over the damage. He had been tied down, tightly, with something stronger than rope but thinner than chain. There was no doubt in Gabriel's mind that whatever _had_ been restraining Balthazar would have had to been pulled free from his skin before they could take him down from wherever his attacker had strung him up. 

"You can't be here!" he shouted when Castiel began to clean away the blood and grime from his offended skin forcing the man to pause and Gabriel's gold eyes to narrow on Balthazar. 

"Why not?" Castiel asked and Balthazar shook his head, forehead sweaty as he fought through the pain. 

Gabriel felt the knot in his stomach tighten and he reached out, resting his hand on Balthazar's wrist his grace already surging to heal him but he stopped himself just as his brother spoke, voice low and ominous.

"She's coming."

Gabriel and Castiel exchanged looks both of them turning their gaze to Balthazar who just shook his head the pained look etched on his expression making Gabriel's stomach twist. He didn't know which was worse. Not having power to help him or having the power and being unable to use it. "Who's coming?" he asked taking Balthazar's hand and nodding to Castiel to continue his work which he started to do silently--after injecting a dose of morphine into the almost empty IV tube. 

The man began to shake his head emphatically, slowing down as the morphine hit his system and he breathed a heavy sigh of relief his blue eyes rolling over to find Gabriel again. "She's--coming for us all," he whispered dreamily while a worried look passed between Gabriel and Castiel. 

'Who?" Gabriel begged leaning into the railing of the bed. "Who's coming?"

"If I knew," Balthazar began with a mirthless laugh. "I'd bloody well tell you wouldn't I big brother? Oh and on that note--" Balthazar turned his head to the side comically and shook his head. "Where the hell were you huh? Shit hits the fan and you disappear--" 

"Ran away then Lucifer killed me," he said softly disregarding the flippant tone and blaming it on the morphine. "Can we not talk about that now? Look--we're here with Dean and Sam--"

Balthazar began to laugh again interrupting him and making it tough on Castiel when he began to doctor the one arm with ointment and fresh bandages. Gabriel let him laugh while he began to unwrap the bandages on the left arm so that by the time Castiel had tied off the last bandage on the right they could swap sides and he could start in on his work all over again. Gabriel could feel the slight anger radiating off him in waves, reminders of why he'd killed Balthazar permeating Gabriel's sense and he could feel the betrayal in his chest as if he had been a part of it himself. 

"Great. The Winchesters. Because they've been so-o much help in the past--"

"They've saved the world," Castiel said solemnly glancing up as he wiped off Balthazar's face. 

"Twice," Gabriel added before leaning in towards Balthazar and fixing him with his most powerful gaze trying to get past this petty bullshit and to the core of what was going on here. "Now who is coming?"

Balthazar seemed to notice the urgency in his voice at last because he sighed and closed his eyes. "I don't know who she is but I've heard of her attacking others. S'why I ended up on my own. I figured if I was alone it'd be easier to hide but--she found me two towns over and dragged me all the way out to the woods..."

It startled Gabriel to see the haunted look in Balthazar’s eyes remembering the light that once shone in them in the heat of battle. Balthazar had been a brave warrior, fearless when he had his blade in his hand. So to see his brother broken like this, to see the fear in his eyes when he tried to recall what had been done to him--it only made Gabriel fear more for his siblings and made him wish even more than he could do something more to save them. 

"She's going to come for me," Balthazar insisted shaking his head once more as he looked between Gabriel and Castiel who had finished bandaging his left arm. "And she can't find you. Either of you. Just leave and don't come back..."

"Balthazar--" Castiel began in a chastising tone but was cut off again by Balthazar as he reached out at last to grip Castiel's wrist firmly in his hand. 

"I failed you once Castiel, I won't do it again. Please listen to me this time. Just stick with your hunters and get far--far away from here..."

Were it not for the sincerity in his voice Gabriel might've continued arguing but instead he and Cas remained silent, Gabriel now helping to clean his brother’s wound and patch him up as best as they could. The pain killers finally seemed to be kicking in and Balthazar continued to protest their actions until the drugs made him too sleepy to care. When he was finally resting comfortably Gabriel and Castiel both took a seat in the blue hospital chairs, flanking either side of Balthazar's bed just looking at him for a long quiet moment.

"What do you think?" Gabriel finally asked not taking his eyes off their sleeping brethren. Castiel was quiet, too quiet even for him while he watched Balthazar and held his hand. Gabriel could practically see the replay of Balthazar's betrayal in Castiel's head alongside the visions of him in glorious battle as a good and honorable soldier. 

"I don't think she intended to leave him alive," the dark-haired man said carefully still looking at Balthazar's face and over the bandages already starting to soak with blood again. "She was interrupted in what she was doing and had to flee. The police scan said hikers found him. She might've heard them heading in her direction and left..." His voice dropped and Gabriel's eyes finally found his little brother's as they looked at each other over the bed. "Which means she will, most likely, return to finish the job."

"And what're we going to do about it?" They couldn’t move Balthazar, not in his current state, and if they left him at the hospital the possibility remained that She might return to finish the job She started. It was also possible for Balthazar to succumb to neglect considering how deserted the floor was. Gabriel rubbed his eyes and stood up trying to think when Castiel spoke up.

"We leave."

"Excuse me?" Gabriel stared from his seat unbelieving that Castiel would even suggest such a thing. But no he was still stone faced, still staring at Balthazar and holding his hand. 

"We leave and we wait."

"You're proposing we use our brother--our wounded brother--as bait?" It was nothing like the Castiel he knew even if Gabriel could see the hunter's logic behind the move. It was the easiest way to lure out the creature and who knows if She would be foolhardy enough to leave another victim alive. 

Castiel opened his mouth to argue his case when his phone rang, the sound coming off as unnaturally loud making Gabriel jump.

"No," he ordered standing up and leaning over Balthazar's bed his gold eyes searing his brother while Cas fought through his layers of clothes trying to find his phone. "Don't you answer that we're talking here!" They had to come up with a better solution than this and a phone call from Dean would just further cement this awful plan in Cas' head. But Castiel was standing up, pulling his phone free and as he answered Gabriel ran around the bed grabbing his wrist and pulled it away after he'd answered but before he said hello.

"No! We aren't going to just leave him here!"

"Gabriel let go--"

"Not until you tell me you aren't serious about this--"

"What choice do we have?!" Castiel finally shouted in return but before Gabriel could answer the door creaked and instantly the two were silent, their heads whipping around to face the hospital room door which stood slightly ajar--when it had most definitely been closed. The chill started to bleed into the room from the hallway.

Centuries of fighting beside one another made it easy to fall back into their appointed roles as soldier and general. Gabriel nodded his head silently back to Balthazar indicating Cas to stay with him and with a flick of his wrist Gabriel's angel blade materialized in his sleeve and he gripped the familiar weapon pointing it towards the door with another firm nod. Castiel obeyed without question and Gabriel was grateful as he approached the door and peered outside.

Castiel hadn't forgotten about Sam on the phone but he was more concerned about what was going on around them. Only when Gabriel had closed the door did he return the phone to his ear reaching behind him to pull free the handgun he had stashed there.

"Sam? I don't have much time. We found the Fallen, it's Balthazar. We just heard something in the hall and Gabriel is investigating..." Castiel glanced between Balthazar and the door wondering if he could stand to leave one for the other, especially when one was helpless and the other out of reach. "I'm in the room right now. Seventh floor room thirty-four. Please...hurry."

Sam's eyebrows furrowed and he held the phone closer to his ear, trying to listen to what the hell was going on. There was a little rustling and a lot of arguing, though over what he was struggling to get a hold of. 

"Cas-- Cas, what the hell is going on?!" He demanded into the receiver, but he got no answer, because everything fell silent on the other end of the line all of a sudden and Sam was getting more and more concerned. He listened for any clues, but all he heard was a little more movement and then silence. He gave Dean a look that read 'We need to get out of here, now' and headed away from the tree after grabbing the piece of wire Dean had dropped, figuring any piece of evidence might be useful at this point. But his priority now was to get to the hospital and figure out what the hell was going on here. When Cas returned to the line, Sam frowned more as he listened to what he had to say.

"Okay, yeah, of course. We'll be there as soon as we can." He hung up and tucked his phone into his pocket, turning his attention to Dean instead. "Apparently the fallen angel is Balthazar and they think there's something in the hospital. We gotta get there as soon as possible." He was worried about Gabriel investigating the hallway on his own, worried that whatever it was had returned to finish the job or something and would find Gabe and Cas, and they'd be in more trouble than any of them had bargained for. 

So Sam marched his way from the scene, over the caution tape, past the officers and back to their car, to make their way to the hospital. He knew Dean was probably as worried as him and even if they both trusted Cas as a hunter and as a warrior of heaven, this was bigger than all of them, big enough that Gabriel couldn't figure out who or what was doing it and big enough that it had already taken plenty of lives for some higher reason.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was times like this Gabriel wished he were back to being a coward. A coward doesn't have to worry about protecting anyone but themselves. A coward wouldn't be moving headlong into danger. It was hardly an honorable life but it was a safe one. Closing the door behind him Gabriel kept his eyes sweeping the abandoned floor and he twisted his fingers around his blade a little more firmly. "Come out...come out wherever you are..." he called softly.

"Olly olly oxen free?" Gabriel taunted as he kept his back pressed into the door. As cold as it had been before when he and Castiel had arrived the whole hallway felt like an icebox now and were Gabriel not humming warm with Grace he was sure he'd be shivering. He was getting very tired of this game now. Not only because he was unused to playing the part of a hero but because this game was real and he had a great number of things he could lose. "You wanted a pretty boy angel, you've got one. The prettiest in fact."

"My..." a voice suddenly purred from the coldness and to his right the lights clicked off at the end of the hall with a sharp pop. "You have a high estimation of yourself. You always were cocky with your precious Grace." The lights to his left popped out this time with a shower of sparks and Gabriel could _just_ see an outline of a shape in the light before the voice returned speaking right behind him against his ear. "That was then _archangel_..."

Gabriel twisted and drove his blade through thin air, stepping back again to root himself against the door once more assuring himself he was still there. "And now you are all ripe for the picking." The lights continued to go out one by one, like a bad horror film Gabriel realized with a wry chuckle, but he knew he had the upper hand here. Whoever this was made the mistake of assuming he'd be like all the others, graceless and unprepared but Gabriel was ready when the final strip of lights popped out of existence and he caught sight of a black figure staring at him. Gabriel smiled as the whites of their eyes lit up with the sparks before the fray began. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Castiel heard the sound of Gabriel's voice drifting through the door but could not make out whatever it was he was saying. Sam had already hung up the phone and he wished he had explained more thoroughly what was going on. Not that he really _knew_ what was going on. For all he knew Gabriel could already be dead but no there was noise outside quickly followed by noise beside him. Castiel turned and reached out for Balthazar but he recoiled as if he'd been burned, tugging at the wires and tubes connected to him as if trying to break free of some invisible bond.

"Our Father who art in heaven--hallowed be thy name--"

Balthazar was speaking but he wasn't conscious, at least not in any way Castiel could see as he pulled his brother by the shoulder back onto the bed. His eyes closed but his hands opened and closed and he continued to struggle while muttering the Lord's prayer.

"Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven--"

"Balthazar--"

"Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses--"

"Balthazar--!"

"As we forgive those who trespass against us--"

How could he have thought to leave Balthazar alone? Whatever it was was just outside the door and already Balthazar was reacting to it. Was it mental? Was it spiritual? Was that why Balthazar suddenly had the urge to pray to their Father who was long-gone from Heaven? Castiel stopped trying to restrain his brother prepping his gun but finding his hands trembling too hard to finish the job. It was only now that he realized this was the first time he'd gone alone on a hunt, without one of the Winchester's to assist. He was still young from a hunter's standpoint and even though he and Gabriel were trained to fight the horrors of this world, but that was back when they had Grace to protect them and aid them. 

"And lead us not into temptation but--"

He shouldn't be afraid. Dean wouldn't want him to be afraid. He'd tell him to turn and face his opponent because if he _was_ going to die today he was not going to die a coward. Rounding the bed Castiel fixed his gun on the door and stood behind Balthazar as he prayed and at last Castiel joined him, praying to their Father (wherever he was) that he may--

"Deliver us--from evil--" 


	4. Chapter 4

"Fuck...fuck, fuck," Dean muttered to himself as he and Sam sped along the way through town avoiding lights like it was his job to do it. Squealing the tires as they charged into the hospital's parking garage Dean caught sight of the cherry red Chevelle and pulled in beside it taking up two spots in the process. Wishing he was in anything but his suit Dean climbed out of the car and rounded to the trunk. Holy water, salt, silver, demonic handcuffs, the usual fare since they still weren't completely positive of what they were going up against. "I shouldn't've let Cas go alone," he murmured as he tucked the different articles into his coat offering Sam Ruby's knife and his own set of handcuffs that Dean had finished not long before they left for this hunt. 

He felt stupid all over again letting Cas run headlong into trouble without having someone experienced to back them up. They knew Gabriel always talked big game but Dean still had yet to see him in action and this recon had gone well beyond a simple information run. If Gabriel was still a coward he'd leave Cas and Balthazar to fend for themselves and if he was an idiot he'd try to fight it off himself. 

"Any plan?" he asked Sam, glancing up to his brother before fixing his eyes on the hospital head of them.

Sam took Ruby's knife and the cuffs when Dean gave them to him, stashing the knife up his sleeve and the handcuffs in his pocket, feeling the nervousness and worry and fear like ice cold water run through his veins. It played with his head but made him see and think so clearly that it gave him that rush that told him whatever it was, he and Dean could fix it. They'd save Cas and they'd save Gabriel and they'd get whatever the hell was in there and hopefully they'd save Balthazar in the process, too. When they were ready to go he turned to the hospital doors with Dean, and no, no he didn't really have a plan yet. 

"We tell them we need to talk to the vic, or see him at least. Get up there and.. Well then I guess we're going in blind, we should probably get to Cas and Balthazar first, unless we see otherwise Gabe can handle himself until we make sure Cas and Balthazar were safe." He didn't care if it Dean didn't know Gabriel's grace was still intact. And he didn't care if he was so god damn worried about Gabriel and what was going to happen to them, because right now they needed to make sure Cas and Balthazar could actually handle themselves. As far as they knew Balthazar was pretty banged up in a hospital bed, and he knew all Cas had to defend himself was a handgun. And he also knew Cas wasn't gonna leave his injured brother unless he absolutely had to. 

Sam tried to keep what little planning they had solid in his head as he and Dean made their way into the hospital and found a nurse's station that stopped them before they could go any further. He brandished his badge again, went for the no-crap-will-be-taken approach to get them in as fast as possible with as little hassle as possible, and then he practically pushed Dean as fast as they could go short of running to the nearest elevator that would take them to floor seven, and he pulled out his phone to call Cas.

~~~~~~~

"Sam?" Castiel answered carefully balancing his phone against his ear in order to keep both his hands on the gun. They'd made it, he thought hopefully, wondering if they were already on the seventh floor or if they were still on their way up. "Gabriel's holding them off. I don't know how much longer he can..." Though already Gabriel had managed the impossible. This was a creature that had already decimated hundreds of fallen and Gabriel was fighting him/her/it off for the past 15 minutes waiting for the Winchesters to arrive. "We're okay. How close--?" Cas began but the phone cut off and he couldn't hear the sound of Sam or Dean or even the cheesy elevator music anymore. Tossing his phone onto the bed Castiel took up his gun again. They had to be close if they were getting interference now he just had to wait for the door to open to admit friend or foe…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The nurses were quick to let them through at the flash of their badges and from the way Sam was nipping at his heels as they charged for the elevator Dean was pretty sure they wouldn't have stopped them anyway. Once the elevator doors were shut Dean pushed and held the seventh floor button overriding any calls on their way up, preparing himself one handed while the elevator ascended. "Keep back...and head for the door as soon as it's clear," he said firmly as they passed the sixth floor and he stepped back to match Sam's position bracing his hands on his gun.

As they approached the seventh floor the lights in the elevator flickered above them and when the doors slid open they were plunged into darkness. Sam hated being plunged into the darkness as they were. He hated not being able to tell which direction they should head, hated not being able to see to defend themselves, hated not being able to find Cas and Gabriel. He felt Dean's hand on his sleeve and a voice in his ear which he sidestepped feeling Dean's arm brushing his own, knowing they were better off together in this, and he hoped to god Gabriel was able to use his grace to get a little help here, because Sam already felt so damn helpless in the dark. 

"Sam!?" Gabriel's voice called from ahead of them and in the darkness Dean could hear the sounds of fighting: the grunt of movement, the clang of a blade, and scuffled footsteps. Dean fumbled for the flashlight in his pocket, clicking it to life. A face appeared for half a second in front of him before the light failed leaving them once more in darkness. A chill seemed to seep from the hall towards them and Dean reached out for Sam's sleeve instinctively when he heard a voice in his ear, echoing in Sam's as well.

"Little hunters come to play?" breathed a sing-song voice, teasing them and making the hairs on the back of Dean's neck stand up. "This is a treat indeed." 

"Hey!" Gabriel called again, his voice appearing quite suddenly close by. There was a rush of air and a hiss from the voice before the sound of Gabriel running met Dean's ears. "Are we having a fight here or what?" Dean pushed forward out of the elevator tugging Sam along with him turning to face the sound of Gabriel running after the creature down the hall. "Follow my voice!" he called loudly, the sound of his boots squeaking on the floor drawing Dean's attention and moving towards the left down the hall following the railing secured on the hospital walls. "Keep coming--" Gabriel grunted as the monster seemed to attack him. Now and again Dean and Sam would see sparks flying when angel blade connected with whatever the monster was fighting with in return. Dean tried to use these moments to his advantage, glancing to the nearest door trying to identify the numbers but every time his eyes focused on them the light was gone and he couldn't make them out again. 

Sam surged forward with Dean when Gabriel called for them to follow, also using the occasional sparks to get a glimpse of the doors along the wall. When they finally found their way to the right door and Dean charged in a head of them. Sam was quick at Dean's heels, so that when Dean stopped short, Sam ran into him in his rush, feeling the gust of cool air as the door was slammed behind him.

Together he and Sam pawed their way through the darkness following the sound of movement and Gabriel's voice closer and closer. Only when they were a few paces away did the hospital room door open to admit them. Just a crack, a sliver of light and Dean charged for it pushing through only to be face to face with Cas and his gun. Gabriel kept his eyes on the door waiting for Sam to pass through before he could slam it shut and snap his fingers.

~~~~~~~

"Whoa! Cas!" Dean shouted holding up his hands when faced with the gun pointed in his direction, holding his ground after being bumped by Sam upon entering the room. The dark-haired man let the gun fall to the bed and it seemed like the air was let out of him, charging around the bed to put his arms around Dean in an embrace that the elder hunter reciprocated, gripping the former angel to his chest before pulling him back towards the bed looking Balthazar over. He was still out, the morphine not quite worked out of his system, but he was still muttering the Lord's prayer. In French this time. 

"What is he doing?" Dean asked incredulously reaching into his pocket to get to work instantly laying a line of salt over the door pressing his ear to it to hear the now familiar sound of conflict there. "Praying," Castiel answered solemnly going to collect his gun. Dean watched his lover over his shoulder before turning back to the door to complete his work, speaking softly. 

"As if that's going to make any difference."

"To him, it does."

Sam stepped back from Dean and sidestepped away from him, watched with a pang in his chest as the hunter embraced his former angel, gratefulness and compassion at seeing two of the people he cared for most, like this, at knowing that Cas was completely okay and about as safe as he could be, and he felt envious. Because he desperately wanted to know if his angel was okay, desperately wanted to know that Gabriel was going to defeat whatever the hell that thing was in the hospital hall on floor seven, wished he could jump in there and help without falling over his own damn feet, and getting himself or Gabriel killed. He hated how helpless he felt in all of this and how he didn’t know what was happening outside. So instead Sam moved to Balthazar's side and listened to their conversation. One month of French at a junior high school in Colorado confirmed that Balthazar was indeed repeating the same few words over and over. Praying, from what Dean and Cas said. He let Dean handle the salting and instead got to work carefully unwrapping bandages from the angel who looked to be in a god awful state.

Sam strode a little too quickly to the door, pressing his ear to it, listening in to what he could hear of the conflict outside. There wasn't much to do but wait for the fight to move into Balthazar’s room, Gabriel to give them the all clear, or a sign that they would have to intervene as best they could. They were nearly literally flying blind.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The creature wailed aloud and Gabriel smirked in the face of its dismay. With everything important to him safely behind that door, he sent the room to another plane locking Sam, Dean, Cas and Balthazar inside until he could deal with this creature properly. "It can't--it's not possible--" the creature stammered incredulously. "The angels fell!" 

"Hard to fall when you're already on the ground," Gabriel snarled and snapped his fingers again restoring the light to the hall and catching a glimpse of his attacker.

It was a girl. Just a girl with blonde hair and blue eyes. She couldn't be more than 18 years old and she was glaring daggers in Gabriel's direction. The look faded however after a moment and she stood up a little taller trying to keep some manner of composure even as she kept her distance. "An angel remains..." she whispered a bit wistfully and licked her lips in a lascivious manner belying the innocence of her form. "You know--we thought something was amiss..."

"We?" Gabriel asked with his brow knitting together in concern. The woman laughed, high, cold and mirthless. 

"Yes?" She taunted in a singular sound before her voice slipped and the sounds of a hundred, possibly a thousand different voices burst from her mouth her eyes going black as obsidian. "We. As in we are many. You and your fallen don't stand a chance. Not even with an archangel to protect them..."

Of course. He'd foolishly assumed this would be the only thorn in his side. His stomach twisted at the thought of how many more Fallen were going to end up like Balthazar...well how Balthazar _would_ have ended up.

"But," Gabriel said slowly, twirling his angel blade and daring to saunter closer he gestured to the door of room thirty-four watching the demon (because now he was sure this was a demon) as she blinked and her blue eyes returned to glare hopelessly at the useless door. "You left one alive."

"A mistake I intend to remedy very shortly."

"Not on my watch sweetheart--"

Gabriel wished he could truly appreciate the look of surprise on the demon's face when his duplicate in front of her fizzled out of sight and his voice came from right behind her. It might've been even more satisfying than grabbing the demon and sinking his angel blade into her back.

But there was no flicker or spark under her skin, nothing and Gabriel tightened his grip on the demon's shoulder driving his blade in harder but the demon only laughed. This...this wasn't right. An angel blade could kill anything it was the only weapon powerful enough to kill an actual angel for Pete's sake! But with the blade buried to the hilt the demon remained in their borrowed meatsuit and Gabriel felt a chill steal into his heart as the demon looked over her shoulder at him. 

"You know...you angels pick your vessels so very, very carefully..." she mused aloud, idly, as if they were having a simple conversation. "You followed bloodlines and family trees while we just hopped in whatever meatsuit was most readily available..."

Gabriel pulled the blade free turning the demon and slamming her back to the wall and holding his weapon to her throat, unnerved by the calmness painted on the demon's pretty face. She chuckled again and leaned forward, willingly pressing the fragile skin of her throat against the blade. "Who would've thought that angelic vessels were so--robust?" 

Pulling away Gabriel pressed his hand over the demon's head summoning up his Grace and felt the power pouring out of his touch, a blast of energy sure to smite any evil out of existence. But it too was dismissed as if he'd simply blown smoke in her direction, her eyes rolling a bit but no light penetrated her skin and definitely no smiting took place. Gabriel was caught off guard, his mind failing to process what was going wrong until the demon grabbed for his arm and they struggled before the demon grabbed his hand with the blade and sliced deep into his left shoulder.

Letting out a shout Gabriel threw himself forward to crush the demon back with all the force he had, managing to knock the wind out of it long enough for Gabriel to pull his blade free and slice the demon's head clean off. It fell from her shoulders a look of surprised now perpetually etched onto her features and not a second later the body followed, crumbling to the floor. Gabriel crumpled too, stumbling back to the opposite wall, the pain in his arm reminding him instantly of how it had felt to feel this same blade sink hilt-deep in his chest. A vision of Lucifer standing over him briefly invaded his sight and Gabriel blinked it away quickly as he sunk slowly to sit on the ground. 

Cursing softly he snapped his fingers returning the room back to this plane of existence, grateful that at least for now--the danger had passed. Pushing himself up off the ground Gabriel walked over to the room knocking on the door and ignoring the throbbing pain in his arm and the blood seeping into his shirt. 

"Clean up on Aisle 7!”

~~~~~~~~~~~

Sam frowned when all of a sudden the sound outside got more muted, but figured there had to be a good reason for it. Things wouldn't go suddenly quiet like that for no reason, or at least he sure hoped that there was a good reason behind it. And instead of listening in he made his way over to Balthazar again, where he and Cas and Dean were now trying to calm Balthazar down, but nothing seemed to work. It was like he was in a trance, speaking in languages Sam couldn't keep track of, some of which he was sure had to be Enochian. Balthazar started to thrash, which was did nothing good for the state of health, the bandages that had remained white began to stain red anew, making Sam struggle to try and help hold him still without making his injuries worse. As dangerous as he knew it was he was starting to think Cas should up his morphine, too, even if he wasn't sure if it would really help. He didn't know if this was human or if this was something to do with that creature just outside.

Balthazar seemed to grow more frantic by the minute despite everything Castiel, Dean and Sam seemed to try. Then, just as Castiel was considering putting more pain killers into his system, all at once he was finished. The thrashing, the praying, the everything shut down and Balthazar was once more knocked out, fast asleep on his bed as if he hadn't a care in the world, settled into the hospital bed like he was fast asleep, Sam quickly checked his pulse to make sure that he was okay.

The knock startled Castiel out of his reverie and he glanced up to the door. 

"Clean up on Aisle 7!" Gabriel's voice rang loud and clear through the door and Dean quickly crossed the room to open it. The hall was bright once again, buzzing with fluorescent light and as the elder Winchester stepped out he viewed the decapitated body on the floor some three doors down. 

Sam smiled for just a brief second at the sheer Gabrielness of the call, until the door was open and Sam was quick to notice the weird slash in his jacket and soon, the blood that began to soak through, and Sam made his way over to the archangel with Cas, though he kept a short distance to let Cas take the lead.

"You're hurt," Cas said suddenly from across the bed and Gabriel realizes he's bled clean through his jacket, fingering the open hole and wincing. "It's a flesh wound," he dismissed, turning to shoot one gold eye over to Sam just as Dean calls out from the hallway. He knew it must've come at the hand of Gabriel's angel blade, and it looked like more than a flesh wound judging from the amount of blood on Gabriel’s coat.

The head, fallen a few feet from the body, is facing him and Dean tilts his head approaching it while Gabriel entered the room, brushing purposefully past Sam, heading right for Balthazar's bed. He let out a breath of relief seeing his brother sleeping soundly. 

"Sam? Cas?" 

His voice sounds strained and when everyone exits the hospital room Dean is standing holding the severed head in his hands before turning it back to face them. Castiel gasps and pushes back into Gabriel who furrows his brow. Though Gabriel had never laid eyes on her before the lights had come on Dean, Sam, and Castiel would recognize the familiar, older face of Claire Novak.

His attention was diverted to leaving the hospital room and following the sound of Dean's voice only to fall short and stop at the doorway, feeling sick at seeing the severed head of Jimmy Novak's daughter, Claire, somewhat older than the last time he’d seen her. 

"Oh, Jesus...What the hell?" Sam breathed, eyebrows knitting together. "Why would-- What the hell was-- Well it's gotta be a demon, right?" He turned his gaze to Gabriel, his concerns and worries now conflicting between Gabriel's injury, making sure Balthazar actually got some medical attention, and what the hell was going on here.

Castiel looked heartbroken at the sight of Claire's sightless face, their matching blue eyes staring out into the void, the surprise still on her face. Dean held the former angel by the shoulder and turned him to face the hunter. "Hey--it's not your fault--"

"I promised him--" Castiel murmured weakly turning his head away again to look at Claire. "I promised Jimmy I'd look out for her and now..."

"Cas it's not your fault--" Dean began again and he took the dark-haired man further down the hall, speaking quietly while they searched for a method to move the body out of sight and clean up the dark blood staining the fine white tiles.

Gabriel ran a hand through his hair as he scanned Cas' thoughts idly, recalling the memories of Jimmy and his daughter and the private conversations they'd had vessel-to-angel about Castiel keeping his family safe while Jimmy allowed Cas the use of his body. Of course Cas felt like he failed his trusting vessel...but it had been kill or be killed and Gabriel could only hope Castiel could forgive him for killing her...and himself for allowing it to happen.

Sam watched Cas go, feeling awful for him and for Jimmy, and confused about what this meant for them. There had to be an important reason as to why the demon had taken possession of Claire Novak's body, it had to have some kind of important meaning and honestly Sam was scared of what it might be. He squeezed Gabriel's hand tight and watched his brother and Cas go, before he allowed Gabriel to tug him back into the hospital room, and then let go and tried to help Gabriel get his coat off. 

With their brothers out of sight Gabriel took a chance, reaching out to take Sam's hand, lacing their fingers loosely together before he tugged Sam back into the hospital room. "It is a demon. A Knight--Murmur I think," Gabriel said gently as he released Sam's hand as he began to peel off his coat and shirt, wincing as he moved his wounded shoulder. He pulled open the drawers as he searched for more gauze and bandages, hopping up onto the shelves to sit while he spoke and tried to doctor himself.

"They discovered the ancient bloodlines," Gabriel sighed as he ignored the peroxide and antiseptic, going right for the gauze, shaking his head softly. "The Knights are starting to take vessels from the angelic bloodlines for themselves. Which--apparently--makes them extremely tough. I ran her through with my damn blade and she laughed Sam," Gabriel laughed weakly and let the ends of his bandages fall, unable to continue with the throbbing pain in his arm. "I had to cut off her head or else she'd've taken me out..."

Sam watched the archangel try to wrap up his shoulder as he explained what was going on, and Sam's eyebrows seemed perpetually knitted together now, worried as to what this meant. If these things were immune to the angel blade then they really were seriously strong, and Sam was more than worried. What did this mean for them, and what did it mean for the rest of the fallen? And Gabriel's words equated something else to Sam that made his blood run cold. Sam smacked Gabriel’s hand away, setting aside the gauze in favor of some antiseptic.

“So there’s more than just her…?” He asked while he held Gabriel’s arm tight under his own as he wiped away the blood and cleaned the wound. Gabriel winced and nodded, gritting his teeth to keep from crying out as Sam wrapped his arm perhaps a little tighter than necessary and then reached for another few rolls of the stuff and stuffed them in his jacket pockets. They had some but not a lot, and Sam wasn't sure how fast Gabriel could heal.

“Last I saw there were less than a dozen but the way she was talking--the demon seemed to believe there were hundreds…”

"What the hell are we going to do, Gabriel? We can't cut the heads off hundreds of Knights and hope for the best," The were well and truly screwed, Sam was sure, and he was trying to form some kind of plan for what they should do next but he was coming up blank right now.

Gabriel watched the worry line Sam's face as he took over bandaging the angel's arm wishing this whole situation could just be simple. He could be happy riding round in the Impala with Cas, Dean and Sam. Combating simpler foes like...ghosts and ghouls and fuck just something easier than this. Where they could go back to the motel after a few days work and retire with a job well done for a little while till the next monster reared its ugly head. Hell they might even get an extra moment to have some fun instead.

Reaching out for Sam Gabriel cupped the hunter's head and brushed his thumb over his cheek trying to smooth away the worry, idly fingering a strand of hair there. "Believe it or not Sammy this makes our jobs a little easier at least as far as finding what is after the fallen..."

"How?" Dean's voice suddenly spoke, rough as he re-entered the room. Gabriel straightened instantly at the hunter's approach and slowly let his fingers slip from Sam's hair. Dean turned and leaned his back against the door tucking his hands into his pockets and letting his sharp green gaze flicker from Gabriel to his brother and back again. Gabriel started to redress pulling his plaid shirt over his now bandaged shoulder.

"Well--" he began gently glancing briefly for Castiel before he continued. "While an angel could take really any willing vessel there are certain bloodlines that are more--suitable. A perfect vessel is the hardest thing to find. You yourselves are from the bloodline of Abraham. The Novaks come from the bloodline of Emmanuel. Ancient biblical families, usually visited by God himself."

"You're forgetting the part where it gets easier--" Dean stressed and Castiel finally appeared his face gone red in the cheeks and Gabriel stiffened at seeing the tears in his eyes. Castiel nodded and wiped his face lifting his head bravely to finish the explanation. 

"There are only a handful of true vessels left. Many of the bloodlines were killed off, some died out but some still manage to thrive." Castiel turned his blue eyes to Dean who's face softened just enough as he nodded. "So we just have to find the remaining descendants and either protect them or--"

"Kill them," Gabriel said softly, the room falling silent at the knowledge.

Sam too wished more than anything, anything at all, they could have some normalcy. Well, their version of normalcy, and with Gabriel along with them. Chasing down ghosts and ghouls and the occasional werewolf or nest of vampires, though those were very few and far between these days. And Gabriel would be along with them, making things interesting and keeping him company when he was trying to get away from Castiel and Dean getting too cutesy to even stand for another second. And Gabriel could maybe even let them know that he was an Archangel still, maybe, just maybe, and they could have just a little happiness to themselves before they were thrust into another messed up situation like this. Sam was quick to settle into the touch of Gabriel's hands to either side of his face, one of his own hands dropping to rest on Gabriel's knee as he listened to him, wishing he didn't feel as hopeless and helpless here. He just wished these things would stop happening to them, these huge life-or-death-for-hundreds-of-people problems they'd keep getting thrown into. 

Sam was about to ask the very same question when all of a sudden Dean's voice rose up from the doorway and Sam straightened to, having realized he'd gravitated even closer to the archangel than he'd thought he had, and he dropped his hand from his knee and stepped to the side to face Dean when Gabriel's hands moved from his face slowly, fingers sliding free of his hair and god he wished he could just have a second to get some closure away from his brother and Cas right now, but that wasn't going to happen. They had a job to do, so he tried his best to ignore the way Dean's gaze flickered from him to Gabriel and then back. Sam glanced at Gabriel as he pulled his shirt back on carefully, looked to his shoulder to make sure that it wasn't bleeding through too much, before he looked up to his face and listened to what he had to say. 

And yeah, it did sound easy enough to be able to find all those bloodlines, but the problem would then be killing those innocent people, or trying to protect them, and he knew that he was not alone in thinking that it was damn near impossible to properly protect these people from those demons. "So.. I guess we better get back to the motel and start working out who we need to find, before they do."


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a warning this whole chapter is a little hurt/fluff but mostly it's nothing but smut. If it's not your thing, I get it and it's split in such a way that you can continue on without reading if you're not interested or you can read to the smut part and skip over. But it's just what I said--an entire chapter of smut. Enjoy!

Dean and Sam made sure that a fellow hunter nearby kept their eyes on Balthazar at the hospital before they returned to the hotel, while Gabriel and Castiel went about the business of burying Claire with all the proper rites she deserved. It wasn’t until they returned that Gabriel could sense there was something different in the air and in Sam’s eyes as he delivered Castiel back to his hunter. They lingered on Gabriel as he left their shared room for his own right next door. He wasn’t expecting any visitors, at least for a little while, so he was pleasantly surprised when his door opened and Sam appeared carrying a large green med kit. 

Gabriel looked up at Sam from the bed a small smile spread across his lips as he gestured to Sam's med kit grinning softly to himself. "So, Sammy..." Gabriel leaned back on his hands grinning like the fox that got in the hen house. “You gonna play Florence Nightingale for me again?” Giving his finger a wiggle in the hunter's direction a pink and white candy striper hat appeared on his head. 

Sam thought his spirits were going to be perpetually sunken for the night, worrying about Cas and how he was going to handle Claire’s death. He was still struggling big time with the guilt of the angels falling and adding to that the fact that his vessel's daughter, who he'd promised to keep safe, had been possessed and then killed, was definitely not going to come lightly for the former angel. But Sam found himself smiling a little anyway, watching Gabriel practically bouncing onto the bed and, but for now Sam would avoid telling Gabriel of his doubts and suspicion of how easily Dean accepted the fact that he and Gabriel were together. 

Sam gave Gabriel a look that bordered on bitchy when he felt a hat magically appear on his head, and he didn't need a mirror to know what it was. He made his way over to the bed and sat down on the edge, and purely because Gabriel was injured and Sam was feeling charitable, he left the stupid candy striper hat on his head. "Maybe, shut up. Can you use your grace to fix your shoulder? I mean, we'll still probably have to bandage it and all to keep up appearances," He opened up the med kit and got out the thickest roll of gauze and a couple pads of the non stick stuff as well as antiseptic, and of course, the stuff for the sutures that they kept in bountiful supply. 

Gabriel struggled not to laugh at the beautiful bitchface Sam sent his way as the hunter joined him on the bed with the med kit between them. "Keeping up appearances won't be necessary. Angel blade got me good," he grunted as he peeled off his jacket and moved his arm out of his shirt sleeve, testing his shoulder and unwrapping the delicate knot Sam had tied into the makeshift bandage, dark blood still staining the white linen and further dulled with dirt and sweat. "Takes a little longer to heal even with Grace." Gabriel twisted where he sat holding out his arm to Sam, unraveling the bandage and exposing the wound. 

It was still tender and raw, red around the edges with thin red lines splaying out like spiderwebs over the pale flesh of his shoulder and chest. Looking down at it Gabriel felt--oddly humbled. Just a few inches more to the left and he'd've died. Again. Only this time it'd be worse because this time he wasn't just leaving his siblings behind, he'd be leaving Sam behind too.

"Were you scared for me?" he asked Sam quietly after a few long minutes of watching the hunter doctor up his wound. Gabriel hadn't missed the relief when it flickered across Sam's face upon his appearance in the doorway. He'd wanted so badly in that moment they had together with him on the countertop to pull Sam in and kiss the worry from his face but then Dean hadn't known about them or this thing they had going on here. Which brought up a whole new batch of questions Gabriel hadn't intended on going over but now buzzed through his skull demanding answers. Pushing the questions down Gabriel shook his head and smirked. "Because I'm not ashamed to admit it--I was a little scared for me too."

Sam quickly got down to business, inspecting the wound that had thankfully, due to their bandaging at the hospital managed to stay entirely free of any bits of dirt or debris or whatever, so he didn't need to clean up too much. Sam wished they'd have more fights in hospitals than other places, it was a godsend to have everything they needed patch up at hand He went straight to work carefully stitching together that wound on his shoulder, a furrow between his eyebrows, part concentration and part concern. He swallowed when Gabriel asked that question, and looked up at him for just a second before he went back to work on his shoulder, until he had twelve neat stitches keeping him together, and he went to work cleaning blood from his skin and disinfecting the area even more. 

"I was scared for you." He admitted, after not saying a damn thing for a good while. He finally looked up at Gabriel's face properly, halting his actions. "Scared as all hell, and I'm still scared for you. You got hurt. You know as well as I do how close this was to actually killing you if the demon had had better aim. That scares the hell out of me.”

The feel of the room seemed to instantly change. Gabriel felt warmer somehow knowing that after all the shit he’d put Sam through, there was still room for forgiveness in his battered little heart. 

“Good thing I’m alright then, isn’t it?” Gabriel murmured, leaning in just to see if Sam would attract or repel. At first it seemed he leaned back as if anticipating something more akin to an attack than an invitation. Once Sam’s wires uncrossed though he hesitated just a moment before allowing himself to be drawn into Gabriel’s orbit.

“It’s a great thing. That you’re not dead. Again,” Sam said, fumbling over those words as they came together slowly this time instead of the crushing kiss that had burst from him just this morning. After everything that's happened and the number of times Sam had feared for Gabriel's life in just one day...he was tired of holding back. 

It didn’t take long to find them sprawled out on the bed, their clothing discarded with a snap of Gabriel’s fingers. Sam made a mental note to tell him never to do that again because Sam wanted to unwrap this for himself next time--because Sam already knew there was going to be a next time. So instead Sam jumped right ahead to getting to know every inch of Gabriel that he could reach. 

It had been so long now since the last time Sam had been with anyone like this, months and months now. Dean had brought a hooker home once for him in hopes that it might cheer him up, when he was going through a period where he couldn't get out of bed for more than a little while, but he'd turned her away. He hadn't had the energy nor been in the mood, and now with his energy completely restored, he had more than enough 'mood' for one person.

He trailed kisses down Gabriel’s chest, over his stomach, though not before stopping to nip sharply at his skin to see another mark bloom up, though this one would last a little longer. Sam made himself bold as he kissed his way further down, tracing the light trail of hair that lead down further with the tip of his tongue. He stopped short when he finally reached his goal, licking his lips before propping himself up on one elbow, his other hand coming to curl around the base of the archangel's erection. He was still a moment or two, tracking the bead of precome that beaded up at the tip and slid slowly down the side of his cock, before he leaned in and lapped it up, following that trail back up to the slit.

Gabriel could tell already with Sam's utter fascination with giving him bite marks he was going to look like a damn dalmatian come morning. But if he could look at his marks and remember the look on Sam's face when he left each brilliant pink and purple marks...well maybe he wouldn't mind so much. When the hunter's head disappeared down his chest Gabriel let his fingers slip out of Sam's hair, falling to rest them palms up at his sides. As much as he _loathed_ the idea of patience he could wait--he could be patient for Sam especially if he was exploring. The tentative touch of his hands, of his tongue made Gabriel's breath hitch, closing his eyes as he handed over the reigns to the more than capable Sam, his strong fingers closing around the base of his cock. Gabriel writhed, his hips pressing up into Sam's fingers trying to encourage him to move or _something,_ feeling the haunting drip of precome slicking down the side of his cock. Then his prayers were answered, only instead of the soft, strong stroke of Sam's fingers the archangel's patience was rewarded with the hot and wet feel of tongue sliding up his pulsing shaft. "Ah...Ah!" Gabriel gulped back his groans, his fingers gripping handfuls of the cool cotton sheets. This was perfect...so perfect Gabriel didn't dare speak more---lest his own mouth ruin the moment he was having with Sam's.

Sam looked up at the sound Gabriel made when he licked him, and smiled, unable to hide his delight that he'd both brought that sound out of him and managed to get the mouthy archangel to shut up. He moved his hand where it wrapped around the base of his erection, keeping him steady and keeping a semblance of control, of familiarity in this new territory, and he licked slowly up from the base of his cock to the tip, using the flat of his tongue. His cock was still slick with his precome, and he was having a hell of a time tasting it and deciding what it was like, if he liked it or not. He was definitely siding that he did, liked the whole process of what he was doing, though he was a little conscious of the fact that Gabriel could watch everything he did. He glanced at his hands when they moved out of his hair, before he forced himself to focus on what he was doing, licking another slow stripe from base to tip. It was only after a little while that he built up the confidence and moved to take the head into his mouth, pressing his tongue against the slit, and he started to suck gently, just testing the waters as he brought his hand up to push his hair behind his ear.

Gabriel let his fingers sink into the cotton sheets, palming handfuls of them instead of gripping himself handfuls of Sam. He shouldn't treat the hunter as such but with the tentative touches and little sucks here and there Gabriel couldn't help but worry if he disturbed him too soon sam might change his mind and decide this was a bad idea. Because this wasn't a bad idea, this was a fan-fucking-tastic idea and dammit if he wasn't going to let Sam get away with blue-balling him..."So good Sam..." he tested gently as his tongue made laps of his swollen head, veins beginning to swell beneath his fingers pumping more blood to the head where Sam suckled him so sweetly. "B-Better than you realize..." Gabriel just wanted him to know he was doing good, great, wonderful. Soo fucking wonderful. 

Sam moved his hand back from his hair to curl around the base of Gabriel's cock again, and he felt blood rise up his neck when he heard the archangel complimenting what he was doing. He rubbed his tongue against the slit, waiting until he leaked more precome to lap it up, making a soft, appreciative sound. He moved down, sucking more of him into his mouth, and he traced the tip of his tongue over the veins he could feel, still testing the waters of all of this. To have come this far in his life and not have a lick of experience with any of this, he was pretty damn cautious about all that he was doing. He wanted to make sure he didn't do anything wrong especially. He continued to move further down, sucking just lightly and moving his tongue against him, before he decided to try something different and started to bob his head slowly, while he not-so-subtly rolled his hips against the mattress.

He truly was better than he understood. Gabriel's thighs tightened around Sam as he curled his tongue around Gabriel's swollen cock and started to swallow him down. The archangel took in a deep breath through his nose, arching his back a bit to press his hips back down into the bed lest he try to thrust up into that perfect mouth. "S'good," he chanted breathlessly feeling his nerves starting to string out, stretched thin by a combination of what Sam was actually doing to him and what he imagined Sam getting to do in his head before all those pretty pictures were broken apart when Sam took the initiative starting to bob slowly on his cock. "Sam...!" he cried in a sharp voice, his head falling back to rub against the bed when Sam rolled his hips forward. His thighs pressed in tight to Sam's shoulders, knees rubbing against him as Gabriel struggled to keep from writhing under that warm wet tongue while he lolled over the throbbing head of his cock. "That's it," he coaxed gently, leaning himself back to perpetuate the rocking motion of Sam's body into his. "J-Just like that..."

Sam looked up when he heard Gabriel cry out his name sharply, and smiled around him. He moved his hand to grab at Gabriel's hip, digging his fingers into Gabriel's flesh as he started sucking him down more, encouraged by his coaxing. He moved his tongue against the underside, pressing up against his hard flesh as he bobbed his head slowly. He had to push his hair back out of his face again after a little while, the wetness of it making it hard to control. He pushed the thoughts out of his mind as he focused on what he was doing, and he moved his hand down from Gabriel's hip to slide up the side of his thigh where it pressed to his shoulders, fingernails digging into his paler skin, leaving little crescent shaped marks there. He moved his leg to hook over his shoulder then, and he started to suck him even harder, his cheeks hollowing out as he moved even further down, determined to make him feel good and to take as much of him in as he could.

A shudder rushed through his vessel's form as Sam gripped for his thighs, digging in his nails until the angel hissed from above him and found himself being worn like a scarf around Sam's heavenly shoulders. Gabriel reached up with one hand to push back his hair, gripping it as he arched. Everything was so _perfect._ The room, the privacy, the _Sam_ oh the sweet, sweet Sam who was holding onto him and swallowing him so very well. "Ohh--yes, yes, yes, yes, yes..." Gabriel chanted before he ran out of air, his hips shuddered as he tried to keep from bucking up too hard, too soon as he felt his resolve starting to crumble. Originally he'd intended on getting Sam on his back, on his knees, and a plethora of other decadent positions, intended to take the hunter for the ride of a lifetime but who was he to stop Sam when he was apparently enjoying himself. Reaching down Gabriel would push back his hair, gawking at the sight of his hunter's cheeks sunk in, swallowing him harder and further than before finally eliciting a whimper from the angel's lips as his body gave a telltale shudder. "Sam...gonna--gonna come..." he whimpered, gold eyes half lidded as he focused on the beautiful man beneath him.

Sam was finding himself enjoying this more and more as the seconds ticked by and Gabriel started to come apart beneath him. He felt the familiar shudder of his hips that told him Gabriel was getting pretty close, that he was trying not to buck up into his mouth. He could feel that Gabriel's resolve was crumbling, and he'd more than just won the upper hand here. He had Gabriel at his mercy, and he fully intended to take every little advantage of that. He gave an appreciative sound when he felt Gabriel gripping at his hair as he arched up into his mouth, and after a while that hand was running through his hair to push it back from his face, and he could feel Gabriel's gaze falling to exactly what he was doing his gaze flickered up to Gabriel, and at that whimper, something different happened than he was sure the archangel was expecting. You see, this time, it was Sam who had the light of mischief in his eyes, and he pulled off Gabriel suddenly with an obscene sound, pushing himself up with Gabriel's legs still over his shoulders. "No."

The twinkle in Sam's eyes was downright sinful sending an unfamiliar flutter into Gabriel's stomach. Not being one to be denied the archangel bit down on his lip to try and hide his smile at the impish grin Sam sent his way. All dimple and trickster and ugh every bit as gorgeous as he thought it would be. Gripping the hair in his hands it was all Gabriel could do to take a deep breath and calm himself when Sam spoke. "No?" he echoed, tilting his head to the side and biting down hard on his lower lip to keep from the smart ass retort from escaping his lips. Swallowing it instead Gabriel opened his mouth once, twice, three times trying to find the words to say. "Are you...really going to play this game with me Sammy?" he murmured.

"No," he repeated, at Gabriel echoing the work, and he licked his lips before shifting up more, sliding his hands up Gabriel's thighs and parting them more so he could sit up between his legs, though his hands continued their slow slide over the inside of his thighs. "I'm really playing this game with you, Gabriel." He confirmed, carefully avoiding touching him anywhere near his cock, wanting to keep him on edge and not let him come, as he'd been so close to doing in his mouth just moments earlier. "I'm not letting you come yet, I'm not finished with you." He explained, and moved over Gabriel, leaning down to press a kiss to the corner of his mouth. "We have all night yet."

Gabriel's eyes darkened as Sam's hands trailed slowly down the inside of his thighs, his hips bucking up willingly trying to encourage those strong hands to finish the work that pretty mouth had started. Oh but he was evil to do this...but dammit did it make Gabriel that much hotter seeing the sparkle in Sam's eyes, the tease in his voice as he leaned in over the angel and told him exactly where they stood. Gabriel's smile widened as Sam leaned in turning to catch the hunter in a proper kiss before he pulled away. Licking the salty taste of his own precome on Sam's lips was perhaps the most erotic thing he'd done--well in quite some fucking time. "Oh Sammy, Sammy, Sammy..." Gabriel purred and he reached up to cup Sam's head and pull him into a blinding kiss, the kind designed to take someone's breath away. He wanted Sam good and dizzy before Gabriel could reach down that lengthy torso to finally cup himself a handful of Sam, groaning as he broke their kiss starting to stroke him with glittering eyes. "Your turn then...?"

Sam felt a pulse of arousal move through him when he knew Gabriel was licking the taste of his own precome off his lips in that kiss, and his eyes were a little darker, though still lit with that spark of mischief for denying Gabriel what he'd wanted, leaving him high and dry like Gabriel had done to him this morning, only this time it was Sam's choice to leave him that way. When he was pulled into another kiss after Gabriel purred his name like that, he was left dizzied and hot and wanting more, and it seemed Gabriel was going to give him exactly what he wanted. He rolled his hips into Gabriel's hand when he felt his hand cover him, and he settled down more against Gabriel, not so that he was actually touching him, but so that he was hovering maybe an inch over him, his hair falling in a curtain around his face yet again. "If you want," he said breezily, smiling as he leaned down to kiss Gabriel's jaw.

They were so close they _should_ be touching. In all the right places and all the right ways. Gabriel even tried canting his hips up, eager to touch and be touched even while both his hands slipped down to stroke Sam from hilt to head completely encased in his fingers. "Oh I want. I want very much." Leaning into Sam's lips Gabriel would turn to steal a kiss biting down gently on Sam's lower lip before he pulled away, pressing his forehead into Sam's while he stroked the hunter hard and fast, slowing when his breathing and heart rate elevated too quickly. "Wanna hear your moans and make you scream my name..." the angel continued feeling his own heart starting to pound as he zeroed in on those incredible hazel eyes. "Wanna make you mine, Sammy. If you want..." 

Sam felt his heart rate spike when Gabriel moved both hands down around his cock, stroking him from base to tip hard and fast, and his breathing sped up as he stared down into those golden eyes. Though Gabriel seemed to take a hint and slow right down again, making him groan low. "Yeah, I want." He murmured, a smile making its way to his face. "But you'll have to work for it." He added with a grin, and ducked his head so he could kiss Gabriel's neck as he rocked his hips into his hands. He knew it was true, even teasing aside. He tended not to be overly loud, so Gabriel really would have to work to get hims screaming his name for him.

Gabriel licked his lips at the stubbornness of his hunter stroking him a bit slower as he nipped his neck. "Issat so? Well I'd best get to _work_ then shouldn't I?" Gabriel's hands came up to wrap around Sam's neck pulling him down into a breathtaking kiss, slow and deep the angel holding onto him as he applied a liberal amount of his refreshed grace to turn them around. Pushing up from his kiss Gabriel would sit upright on Sam's stomach, flicking a finger to the left and the right, stretching the hunter's arms across the width of the bed. "Just as a precaution--" he promised with a wink, leaning down to press another sweet kiss to Sam's lips before he started down his neck and kissed over the hollow of his throat before shifting still further down. He took his time suckling a trail of kisses and bites down Sam's throat and chest, pausing to tempt his nipples into hardening, palming over them on his way down. There was so much of Sam to discover and Gabriel couldn't wait to get started. It was completely different than what his brother and Sam's shared. Castiel had pieced Dean back together himself, every part having passed through his hands at least once in the reassembly process. He'd known Dean's body long before they shared a bed but Gabriel and Sam had no such history. Gabriel got to feel the thrill in his stomach as he looked over Sam's shape, hands brushing over every muscle and curve that his lips could not reach while he moved further and further down. He pressed against Sam's cock as he slipped between their bodies, leaving a wet trail along his stomach while he paused there to rock against him momentarily, sighing at the feel of the heated precome smearing across his skin. Gabriel nuzzled his cock as he slipped up to his lips, pressing a kiss to the head before he slipped back to a more comfortable position.

Gabriel's hands were solid, holding Sam still while he paused. He couldn't do what he was about to do if Sam didn't relax and Gabriel himself was eager for once to do this particular exercise. Rubbing small circles with his thumb into his hips Gabriel would sigh gently as he pulled up from the throbbing cock and licked his lips. "Hold still Sammy...promise it'll be worth it..."

Gabriel made sure Sam had heard and understood him before he drew the man's legs up and spread them open giving Gabriel the room to lie down between them. One hand stayed with his hip, maintaining the soothing motion of his thumb. Gabriel's mouth descended low on one side of Sam's cock, his free hand coming to press against the side not currently being suckled and tasted by Gabriel's expert tongue. He dampened every inch he could reach starting at the root and working his way up to the head, the rigid tip of his tongue tracing the pathways of veins that were just beginning to pop against his skin. But just as Gabriel was reaching the head, hovering there in anticipation only to drop his head to the other side to begin his ritualistic detailing all over again.

Sam was almost embarrassingly giddy about the fact that Gabriel was living up to the challenge he'd given him, and he was already well aware that Gabriel had a good lot of talent when it came to this. He didn't know whether Gabriel had ever been with a man before, but even if he hadn't, he had literally centuries to know what was good, what could make someone scream and even the strongest of people give up control. He had no doubt that whatever Gabriel decided to do really would have him screaming his name by the end off the night.

Sam tensed when Gabriel drew his legs up and spread them so he had room to lie down, so he was near spread eagle although his knees were bent either side of the archangel. His attention was more than diverted though when Gabriel settled between his legs and his mouth descended to his cock, and he moaned low as he felt him start to such and lick him with expert ease that he hoped to learn from to do the same to the archangel someday, and a hand came up to work the side of his cock that Gabriel's mouth wasn't, Sam was definitely sure that it was going to completely worth anything Gabriel had him do. He watched closely as Gabriel as he traced the veins and ridges of his hardening length with the tip of his tongue, and Sam held his breath when he reached the head, before letting it out in a moan that almost sounded pained, as Gabriel dodged it and began his pattern all over again.

The angel had to hide his chuckle at the sound of Sam's pained moan. He'd asked for his best and Gabriel was bound and determined to deliver. After detailing the other side of Sam's cock with just as much loving care as he'd shown the opposite, humming a bit as he leaned up, his fingers still rubbing small circles into Sam's squirming hips. "Mm...what to do with you now...you seem to like this bit but how loud can I get you...?"

Now Gabriel would have to concentrate. What he was about to do was serious work...but if it had the desired effect on Sam then it would be worth the effort.

Gabriel was tender here as he had been along his shaft, his lips wrapped fully around Sam's head Gabriel suckled him like a piece of candy, his tongue swirling around and around and around him in long wide passes. But it wouldn't be much longer before Sam would get what he'd whimpered for Gabriel leaning forward to slowly descend on his cock, drawing inch after inch into his mouth and along his throat.

Swallowing hard Gabriel would ease him down, the rippling action of his throat guiding him along as he shifted his position, making sure he could breath easily around the swollen length. When he'd descended as far as he could Gabriel would concentrate, making certain the inches he had swallowed got nothing but the best attention. Whether it be those tender lips tightening and sucking around his shaft or that soft and supple tongue lashing against his skin just inside Gabriel's mouth or the rippling muscles of his throat as they flexed and caressed Sam. Even those warm fingers that stroked and gripped around the inches of his cock that wasn't quite down his throat just yet. Oh yes...he made sure all of Sam was taken care off as he moaned softly round him, letting the vibration ripple all the way down his cock. And still those golden eyes flicked up to him every now and again...watching and delighting.

The second Gabriel's mouth descended on him and those lips wrapped around the head of his cock after he teased his tongue over his length like he was the sweetest thing he'd ever tasted, Sam wanted to be able to thread his fingers into his hair and encourage him to take more, but his arms were still pinned across the bed, and he could do nothing but watch as he drew inch after inch of his length into his mouth, and he let out a surprised kind of moan when he felt the head bump the back of Gabriel's throat and then the archangel continued on, taking him down his throat without pause. 

His hips jolted just slightly against the hand holding him down when he felt Gabriel swallow hard around him and he felt the muscles in his throat rippling around him in the most unexpectedly amazing way. He felt himself leaking precome down his throat, and the muscles in his legs were tensing and bunching sporadically as Gabriel worked him over expertly. It was not only his throat that was making him feel on top of the moon, but his tongue that still managed to do wicked things to the underside of his cock and those lips, soft and tight around his length and the hand that wrapped around the base where he just couldn't manage to get all of him into his mouth. Sam was very well taken care of, and the angel was giving him so much pleasure he was starting to think that he might lose himself, way too fast. 

He couldn't really keep himself quiet now, despite what he'd told him originally, when he hadn't quite anticipated that Gabriel was going to make him feel so good, spread out before him without being able to move his arms no matter how much he wanted to move a hand to the back of his head and gain more control over the archangel. The noises he was making were verging on embarrassing, though he wasn't quite screaming the trickster's name just yet. 

Gabriel listened and felt the way Sam shifted under him as he started his descent. It was different, somehow separate from himself as Gabriel’s tongue expertly tasted Sam. Like he had eyes atop his head that could watch Sam's beautiful hazel eyes roll back into his head, his chest rising and falling as he panted, his lips trembling as he cursed and called. But as Gabriel started to feel him pressing against the back of his throat he had to concentrate even harder--he didn't want to choke but he didn't want to give up either. Finding the balance was slow work but it seemed his speed wasn't necessary here. Holding Sam down his throat wasn't, as Sam surely thought, another tactic of his but simply Gabriel trying to swallow that much more of him.

It was slow work but Gabriel could tell from how hard Sam’s cock was that it would be well worth it once his lips rested around the hilt. Closing his eyes after Sam whimpered so nicely Gabriel shifted his head slowly from side to side, easing Sam so slowly and gently down his throat, the head stretching it wide as he guided him. Swallowing hard Gabriel couldn't resist a moan as his tongue started to taste fresh skin, his fingers around Sam’s cock slipped out of the way as he took Sam further and further. First two hands--then just one, his thumb and forefinger stroking him before with a jolt Gabriel could feel his nose pressed against Sam's stomach, Gabriel's lips curled round his cock. Moaning loudly Gabriel could feel the rumble pass from his chest, up his throat till it reverberated around Sam's cock. Breathing in slowly Sam would feel the air that passed through Gabriel's nostrils on its way to his lungs, cool air striking against the hot flesh there and as if to apologize for cooling him Sam would find the angel's tongue, ever vigilant, lap at him once more, rewetting the places that had dried. Now with his hands free Gabriel would move both of them from Sam's cock to fully grip his hips using his leverage to keep Sam pinned to the bed.

One hazel eye peeked up at his hunter before Gabriel inhaled hard, sucking down on Sam's length with everything that surrounded him, lips, mouth, and throat all suctioned to each and every delicious inch. Holding his breath was no big feat but swallowing came to a little harder. A brief reprieve from the vacuum Gabriel created in his mouth Sam would feel those slick, wet walls ripple along him once...twice and finally a third time before Gabriel had to take a breath. Mm but Sam would gain no reprieve from being trapped down his throat. He didn't budge, not a centimeter as he gently kneaded Sam's hips in her hands, every now and again taking another look at the hunter, listening for the scream he so wanted to hear.

Sam was more than impressed by the way Gabriel sucked him down so far, feeling the tight clench of his throat around him. He'd never had anyone swallow him down completely to the hilt, it wasn't that he was cocky, but he knew he had nothing to be ashamed off when it came to size, and he'd never had a partner that had even tried to take him down their throat, and Gabriel hadn't choked, hadn't stumbled, hadn't made a single mistake and Sam was kind of awed at him. He stared down his body at Gabriel, as his nose came down to press against his stomach, and that moan that reverberated up through his length had him gasping out and shuddering, moaning like no one had ever touched him before. 

He didn't have a chance in hell to last under Gabriel's ministrations with any semblance of control or composure, and his head dropped back against the bed covers, staring up at the ceiling as he breathed hot and heavy, just trying to keep from bowing his load in a second like he was some teenager again. When Gabriel suddenly inhaled and started to really suck, it was a damn good thing the archangel had both hands on his hips to keep him pinned to the bed because all he wanted to do was buck up into his mouth, despite the fact that Gabriel already had every inch of him in his mouth, and he probably would have just ended up hurting him. He honestly didn't know how long he was going to last with Gabriel sucking him with everything he had, his throat working him over and his tongue pressed up against the underside of his cock and those lips creating a vacuum that was driving him insane from the word go. 

And as if that wasn't enough Gabriel kept working him over and working him up to the edge with that throat, tightening and ripping around him once, twice, three times and Sam could barely handle it without screaming, but he did, thankfully. He wasn't going to let Gabriel win so easily. He knew Gabriel wanted to hear him screaming his name like it was the only thing he could think, say, breathe (and he was so, so very close to that point anyway) but he didn't want to let him win, he wanted to make him work so hard they were both panting and couldn't think of a damn thought other than each other.

It was really a treat to debilitate him so much, not that Gabriel ever planned to lord it over his head...Sam might never let him do this again! Sam's voice was so close to breaking, his moans deep and husky, strained from watching the angel devour him straight to the hilt. The hunter had looked so startled when he'd found himself fully engulfed down Gabriel's throat but when Sam fell back against the bed like that when he swallowed around him Gabriel saw the surprise wash from his face, once more replaced with that look of utmost pleasure as Sam writhed, almost tearing at the bedsheets as his whimpers changed moments before Gabriel finally released his hands. Now this...was something he could have fun with. He'd considered the possible repercussions and in the end he decided that whatever might happen afterwards Gabriel would still have this memory etched into his mind and it would be his most savored for the rest of his existence. Breathing hot along his length Gabriel would listen to Sam's cries and almost screams, his gold eyes surveying his hunter with tenderness tinged with just a liiiitle glimmer of excitement twinkling there in the corner of his eye. Drawing his lips tight around him once more Gabriel would swallow hard before holding his breath, quickly and energetically swallowing him over and over again until he lost count on how many times he'd done it. 6 maybe 7? Ohh but when Gabriel sensed he was getting close again, his breathing heavy and his cheeks flushing red once more, he would stop again, the cool breath of air piercing Sam's skin as it filled his lungs once more. Groaning as Gabriel panted a bit himself now, holding his breath longer than he had inhaled for. Oh but the next pass he was ready, inhaling deeply Gabriel would close his eyes, fingers biting into Sam's hips as he swallowed and moaned and rocked his mouth ever so gently along his cock. He could feel the pulse in his veins here, the impossibly hard cock as it swelled to fill his mouth. Mmm but once more...Gabriel released him moments before it got too far. A chuckle rippled along his throat now as he released his tight grip, relaxing instead to stroke small circles into Sam's hips.

He was so close--so close to getting Sam to scream and he wanted it, more than anything to see the hunter come apart beneath him just so Gabriel could have the pleasure of putting him back together. But even he knew when it was time to call it off. Working Sam slowly from the depths of his throat Gabriel would pull off with a pop licking his lip and working his jaw because damn it had been a very long time since he'd even attempted something like that. "How're you--holding up--?" he panted, somehow breathless as he climbed his way back up his hunter, refreshing the places he'd kissed and bit on his way down.

Sam knew that he was so close to giving Gabriel exactly what he wanted, that he was so close to screaming out the archangel's name. And he knew it was going to happen, sometime soon, even when Gabriel pulled off him and crawled up his body, kissing his way softly up his body. He wrapped an arm around the trickster, his other hand coming up into Gabriel's hair, finally getting to grip a handful of his soft hair and pulled him into a hungry kiss, unable to manage more than a noise in answer to his question. tugging the angel down harder against him, digging his fingers into his side.

Gabriel found himself kissed breathless in seconds, clinging to Sam for dear life. He groaned into the open mouth of the hunter as their bodies slid together and oh how he _ached_ when Sam's fingers bit into his skin pulling them flush together. It was everything he wanted and more. A deep hungry _need_ filled him wanting to claim the hunter, take him for his own but Sam would never survive the preparation process and Gabriel needed him _now_. Pressing forward Gabriel would lift his hips up his nails raking small red trails along Sam's biceps as he pushed up and forced their bodies apart leaving only their lips joined while he reached between them, his fingers curling around the spit-soaked shaft of Sam's length. Stroking him a few times Gabriel would hum as he pressed Sam against his opening, already slick and open as if he'd been fingering himself open the whole time he had been working Sam into a frenzy. Well...grace could be used for many, many things after all.

Gabriel felt like he was on fire, burning from the inside out as he pressed his hips down onto Sam feeling the thick mushroom head push past his opening and forcing him away from that delectable mouth with a groan. Pushing a hand to Sam's chest he sat up, letting his head fall back as he slowly but surely guided Sam inside his tight heat. Flexing around him sporadically when he was stretched wider than he'd prepared, groaning aloud as the burn sent ripples of pleasure through his vessel. Sinking down lower and lower and lower Gabriel wouldn't stop until Sam was fully sheathed inside him, completely enveloped on the velvet smooth heat around him and only then would the angel look up, his gold eyes glittering possessively. "You want me...come take me Sam."

Sam's hand was still grabbing a handful of silky hair at the back of Gabriel's head when he shifted, unsure of what the angel was going to do and frankly uncaring; he knew whatever Gabriel decided to get up to would give him more pleasure than he knew what to do with, which Gabriel was apparently apt to be able to do, much to Sam's surprise. He'd known he'd be good but he hadn't anticipated how good he was going to be. He moved the hand up from where he'd been gripping at Gabriel's side to run slowly up his back, and then back down over his side slowly before coming to rest on his hip as he felt him lift up, though he kept up the kiss between them, which Sam was definitely keeping hard and passionate and oh so hungry.

When Gabriel stroked him, he arched up into Sam’s touch, though he didn't quite expect what would happen next. He gasped roughly into the kiss when the archangel pressed his cock up against his entrance, and in a moment he could feel the slickness of that opening and he could feel with the give of just the tip pressing to stretched muscles that he was open and ready for him already. Sam said a silent thank you to the power of an archangel; while he was sure he'd more than enjoy taking the time to stretch Gabriel open himself with his fingers, right now he didn't think either of them had enough patience between them to get through that. It took every ounce of control he had not to immediately buck up into the tight wetness of his hole, and instead settled back on the bed and watched Gabriel when he pulled back from their kiss, his eyes hooded with pleasure as the archangel sunk down onto his cock, his tight and oh so hot muscles clenching around him, and his other hand moved from Gabriel's hair when he sat up to rest on his other hip, keeping his hold light as he just watched, let him have control for now.

But the second those golden eyes locked on his on hazel and he spoke those words, now sunk completely onto him, snugly nestled against his hips, Sam gripped his hips hard, head falling back against the bed though his eyes didn't leave the trickster's for even a moment, as he started to lift him up, groaning at the drag of his velvety hot, slick and tight muscles clung to him as he slid out slowly. He only stopped when Gabriel was up to the point where only the head remained inside, rocked his hips up just the tiniest of fractions, before he pulled him down so hard he was sure they both got whiplash.

"Fuck!" Gabriel's knees felt like they gave out and he was left falling into Sam's grip letting the hunter take control out of his hands. Flexing around him Gabriel squirmed in his hold, rocking and rubbing him into the smooth, tense walls urging him onward. "C'mon..." he urged breathlessly, tossing back his head and leaning forward till their lips were hovering just an inch apart. "Take me..." Gabriel pressed forward and met Sam's mouth again, one hand coming up into his hair to hold onto _something_ as he rocked his hips up and pressed them back down, kissing the hunter deeply, breathing in the air from his lungs only to push it back with such a deep set groan that Gabriel seemed to shake with the power of it. 

Sam loved to get to watch Gabriel like this. He looked perfect, completely blissed out and panting like he was having the hardest time imaginable keeping himself from slamming down onto him himself. He groaned out Gabriel's name as his cock was engulfed by tight clenching heat again, and felt Gabriel squirming in his hold, squirming on his cock, rocking and flexing around him and driving him absolutely wild. His hands gripped so tight at his hips he was sure he'd leave bruises on his archangel. And yeah, by now, he had no doubt that Gabriel was his, and just his. He'd had flings, enough by now that he really did have something in common with Dean there, and not one of them had ever felt like this. Nothing had ever felt like this, and it had nothing to do with Gabriel's gender.

When Gabriel started to urge him on further, almost taunting him with those two words, almost daring him to do it and take him and make him his own. he pressed into that kiss, surging forward, and he used his grip on his hips to pull him down hard onto his cock, kissing him back deeply. The way Gabriel stole his breath only to feed him another with a deep groan, had him twitching inside him, hips jerking slightly. He shifted then, letting go of Gabriel's hips to push himself up to sit, hooking his hands then under Gabriel's thighs to pull him in closer against him. He settled so that he had leverage and he was comfortable, and he slid his hands slowly back up to grab at his hips, starting to lift him up and then pull him back down hard, picking up that rhythm as he ducked his head to bite and suck at his neck.

They moved together as if Gabriel anticipated his movements, shifting in his hold as they kissed and gripped for each other. His legs splayed open to accommodate the man beneath him and he wrapped one arm around Sam's neck and the other around his back. It was like being enveloped in a hard protective shell, Sam's hands gripping hard enough to crack at the angel's resolve, a whine escaping Gabriel's lips when the hunter abandoned his lips for the planes of his neck instead. The first choice bites making Gabriel's toes curl. "S-Sam..." 

Letting his head fall back Gabriel opened up even more for Sam to mark up as he bucked their hips together. It felt like everything inside him was coming undone. Everything felt more enhanced and real and so fucking perfect he couldn't stand it. Filled up and forced down Gabriel gasped aloud as Sam's movements jammed his cock between their bodies, rubbing him against the hard planes of his stomach leaving a hot smear of precome against him and aggravating Gabriel's already too hot, too sensitive cock only serving to make him that much more desperate. Locking his legs around Sam's waist Gabriel would lock his fingers behind the hunter's strong neck, pulling his head closer as he arched under him trying to angle his body just right--

When Sam found the sweet spot the effect was instantaneous and unmistakable. Gabriel cried out like a man possessed, rocking himself into his hunter forcing Sam to appreciate the neverending rippling, flexing of the walls surrounding him. "Oh yes...more...please more..."

At first when Gabriel cried out like he'd just experienced the most amazing thing he'd ever encountered, and rocked onto him of his own accord, clenching and flexing around him, panting for more, Sam actually thought he was faking. It took him a long moment to figure out what had _actually_ just happened, and then he was completely awed. He remembered Dean telling him something with a stupid grin about remembering about the prostate when having sex, or when by yourself, just to get a kick out of seeing Sam glare and flush at his brother's complete lack of a sense of privacy.

He aimed from there to continue hitting that spot inside the archangel, hands gripping hard at his hips as he kept him at that angle, his hips starting to rock up into him now, keeping a smooth rhythm of pulling Gabriel down onto him as he fucked up into him, wishing to draw out even more of those delicious sounds he made, to see that expression of absolute bliss on his face. He panted hard, feeling pleasure pooling hot and heavy in his stomach, and he leaned back in to kiss, bite, suck at Gabriel's neck, muttering encouragements to the trickster, pulling him tighter against him so his cock would continue to slide against his stomach, continue to give his archangel the friction he needed and to feel the hot, slick slide of precome over his skin.

It all just felt so damn good Gabriel let himself get lost in it. Sammy, sweet wonderful Sammy, had caught on faster than the angel had intended. Or maybe he'd done his research or maybe Gabriel was just that eager and needy and...wait just a damn second wasn't HE supposed to be making the HUNTER scream?

"Fuck..." Gabriel panted as Sam's fingers bit that much harder into him, angling himself just right to assault his tender prostate while whispering such sweet little encouragements into his ear. He really was perfect, thrusting up just right while simultaneously pulling Gabriel down to bury himself clean to the hilt every time. All while pressing their stomachs together giving Gabriel the benefit of stroking his length along the hard rippling flesh. There was just so much going on, too much that Gabriel felt like his resolve was slipping--he wanted to give in so bad just to feel the rush of release again. "Sam--" Gabriel's voice came out low and rough, reaching up to grip the hunter's hair in both hands pulling him away and forcing his eyes up to find the lit brilliant gaze of the archangel currently falling apart in his arms. Their hips came together with a sharp snap and Gabriel's eyes fluttered for just a moment as he leaned in putting their foreheads together so he could watch, enraptured at the very feel of Sam against him, inside him, around him. Gabriel tried to find the words but for once the messenger of God was at a loss, unable to voice his desire and need for the man beneath him so Gabriel did the only thing he could do.

Surging forward Gabriel would loop his arm around Sam's neck keeping him from dipping away again, kissing the man fully and deeply pouring everything he had into it. Their hips crashed in unison, Gabriel's ass flexing hard around Sam and clenching down for each thrust making it that much tighter and harder to drive in, a whimper escaping his lips while he rocked into the hunter that much faster and harder. He had to get Sam back to needy and wanton and moaning for him. 

Sam was caught, enrapt by those golden eyes, though he could barely see the gold of them around such lust blown pupils like that. He was kept there to stare into Gabriel's eyes as the archangel gripped tightly at his hair with both hands and kept him there, kept him stuck in that almost trance of Gabriel's gaze. At his low and rough mutter of his name, he licked his lips and inhaled to speak before letting it out on a long, strung out moan when Gabriel's hips snapped down against his once more, and he fought to keep his eyes open, to not close them and get lost in the feeling of tight, velvety walls clenching and flexing around him as they moved together, his nails still biting into Gabriel's skin, grip tightening sporadically as he controlled the movements of Gabriel's hips, lifting him up and driving him back down to meet the upward thrusts of Sam's own hips. 

When Gabriel surged forward finally and looped an arm around his neck, head nestled into the crook of his elbow, keeping him there, and he was kissed so deeply that he could almost feel his head spinning, he relinquished some of his control to the angel, his jaw slackening a moment before he tried to kiss back with all the passion he felt deeply for Gabriel, letting out breathy little moans and gasps that he couldn't handle as the trickster tightened up so much more around him, driving him way past insane. He was back to that place where he couldn't form proper thoughts anymore, couldn't have gotten a word out even if he'd tried. His hand moved from Gabriel's hip and down, digging his fingers into the flesh of his ass as his hips started to buck up into him more, though he didn't stop pulling him down onto him to meet those thrusts. He kissed Gabriel back with all he had, chest heaving as he panted.

Gabriel gasped as every sensation and pure feeling came to a head. Breaking their kiss was perhaps the hardest thing he had to do but Gabriel had to _breathe_. It was all so much and so good and it was all..."S-Sam!" Gabriel screamed first. Gabriel never screams first. Dropping his head forward his whole body would seize up, every muscle drawn taut for a split second before erupting in a wave over him. Pressing forward into Sam Gabriel whispered hurried, desperate blessings in Enochian. He came with the force of a hurricane (or at least that's how it felt to Gabriel as he came in thick spurts, feeling as if the wind had been taken from his wings...and that's when he noticed his wings had manifested. 

They were different than other angels. Instead of just one set of wings there were three. Big, wide soft feathers that seemed to glow golden though there was no light source to cause the warm haze that filled the room. And there was no reason for them to be out other than what was going on here. Gabriel still had grace-a-plenty and even though he knew he should cloak them again Gabriel was far too blissed out to actually do anything other than cling to the hunter riding him through his own orgasm,

Sam's eyes shut tightly, willing himself to hold on for just a little while longer as he rode out Gabriel's orgasm, gripping him tighter as he felt hot spurts of his come splattering against his stomach. He was so close to losing it there when he felt him clenching around him and heard him screaming out his name. He sounded so blissed out, so out of his head, and he was beyond pleased about having managed to bring the archangel to orgasm, before Gabriel had a chance to try and make him scream, but more than anything he just wanted to fuck him hard and follow him into oblivion. 

He started to fuck up into him harder, groaning raggedly against his neck now. He slid one of his hands up Gabriel's side while the other maintained a hard grip on his hip, and the second his fingers brushed feathers his eyes snapped open, to take in golden wings, three pairs of them attached to Gabriel's back in different sizes. 

He managed to get out a whisper of "Wings--" before he was choked up with a gasp, pushed over the edge by that sight, and finally screamed Gabriel's name as he pulled him hard back down onto his cock, coming hard deep inside of him. 

Gripping Sam's head, Gabriel could only _pray_ that Sam's eyes were pressed into his neck to shield him from the brilliance of Gabriel's grace. It manifested for just a moment but if he blinded his hunter in a moment of passion Gabriel would never forgive himself. The glow of his grace settled on top of them like snowflakes, undetectable and silent. Gabriel felt it as he nuzzled down to find Sam's lips, guiding them in a slow and simple kiss. Sam would feel it the moment their breathing starting to match. Sam breathed out and Gabriel breathed in and when Gabriel breathed out Sam breathed in, their heartrates matching for just a few seconds leaving them locked together for a long blissful moment. Then they slowly returned to normal, falling into their own staggered breathing, Gabriel's heart starting to pound out a rhythm in his throat while he pulled back from that kiss.

His wings twitched happily when Gabriel opened his eyes to the sight of the hunter beneath him, turned bronze in the glow of his wings. "Mine," he whispered, his voice soft and broken and rough, deep and posessive as he leaned in over Sam and drew his wings around the two of them, soft feathers brushing against Sam's back. "All mine."

Sam was blinded as well--but in an entirely other way than what would have happened if his eyes had been open at the point Gabriel's grace was shown. He was blinded by pleasure, everything seeming to block out but the feeling of Gabriel's body against his own and the feeling of the pleasure that was rocketing through him at that moment.He didn't think he'd ever felt pleasure so great, so intense, that he couldn't open his eyes or move from where he was for the longest of moments. And then his head was being lifted enough that Gabriel's lips could press to his own, and he let himself be guided through that slow kiss, a shudder rolling down his spine, though whether it was due to the synchronization of their breathing, their heart rates, for those few amazing moments, or due to the aftershocks of his orgasm running through him, he couldn't be certain, and he didn't really care. He gripped at his archangel tighter for just a moment before his hold went lax, arms sliding around his waist gently as he kissed him back until Gabriel pulled away. 

He inhaled deeply at the feeling of feathers brushing his skin as Gabriel's golden wings wrapped around him, the thing of the greatest kind of dreams, the thing artists could only wish to ever capture in even the slightest forms. He opened his eyes at the first uttered words, heavy lidded gaze settling on Gabriel's face. "Yeah," he breathed, moving a hand up to brush the tips of his fingers against the tips of some of his longer feathers.

"Yeah..." Gabriel echoed, his face split into a wide smile. It was uninspired, inelegant yet completely perfect all at the same time. Leaning into steal another kiss Gabriel lingered in their shared space for a little longer letting them both crawl back from that incredible high. All the heat and power and pleasure somehow tangible in the safe cocoon of his wings even as he breathed out another laugh at the simple response. "Yeah."

The pinions under Sam's fingers bristled, reacting to the touch of a hand other than that of their owner. Gabriel himself felt the ripple cut through him then warm him. "Never saw any wings did you?" He asked gently, pushing back Sam's hair and tilting his own head up to look at them. They were like being encased in warm golden sunlight just bright enough to see by but dark enough to be intimate. They shimmered as they ruffled and Gabriel let out a pleased sigh turning his head back to Sam's and nudging his cheek to the hunter's with a soft devious chuckle. "Toldja I'd get you to scream..."

"Never," Sam confirmed, voice barely rising above a whisper as if he thought it might entirely ruin the moment, encased in the wings that wrapped around them and kept them both bathed in a golden sort of glow from those wings. He wondered then if Cas had shown Dean his wings before he'd lost his grace, wondered what Castiel's wings had looked like. He'd always imagined they'd be black, but he guessed he didn't really know anything about wings, and he had only had a vague idea about the myth that Archangels were supposed to have three or more pairs of wings. The gold, though unpredictable , seemed more fitting a color for Gabriel's wings than any other. 

At the words spoken moments later, accompanied by a mischievous chuckle from the trickster, Sam rolled his eyes slightly even as just a little color rose up his neck. "Yeah, yeah. I made you scream first anyway." Sam pointed out with a slight smirk. He was pretty proud of having managed it, having him come with a scream of his name without a hand even on him. 

"In my defense--" Gabriel offered, his friendly teasing tone returning as he pushed a hand into Sam's chest pushing him back to lie on the bed, guided with hand and wings holding the hunter steady as they fell. Gabriel adjusted his position over Sam as his wings pulled free and folded casually to his back. "I haven't bottomed for..." The archangel paused for a moment an amusing look of thoughtfulness crossed his features before he let out a laugh sitting up to wipe a hand over his face. "I actually can't remember the last time I bottomed for someone.” It had caught Gabriel off guard and was the only reason Sam had managed to get the upper hand. At least that's what Gabriel kept telling himself as he hovered over his very own hunter, looking down at his handiwork with a brilliant smile. Sam was all red in the face, tousle-haired and positively glowing with a light that had nothing to do with Gabriel's wings.

Sam grinned at the praise, immensely glad that he hadn't screwed up the experience, having very much wanted to make Gabriel scream, as much as the trickster had wanted to do the same to him. And it having been his first experience fucking a guy, he was pretty proud of himself for managing to impress, and making the archangel come without even finishing him off with a hand, and making him come first. Though he generally wasn't one to disappoint in bed, if he did say so himself. He shifted where he settled on the bed underneath Gabriel, slipping out of him carefully now that they were no longer joined in such a close embrace, and he slid his hand up further to caress over one of his wings idly, curious about what they would feel like. "I'm glad you liked it, and I'm glad I didn't make a complete fool out of myself."

"Baby I don't even think that's possible--" Gabriel leaned down to leave a kiss on Sam's nose only to hum contentedly at the feel of the hunter's fingers carding through his feathers. He started to sit up again, fighting it seemed to gain control of his wings which were all too eager to press back into Sam's hands, burying his fingers in feathers. Gabriel groaned and fell forward with a small 'flump' falling into Sam's chest while his multitude of wings folded in around the pair of them like a big golden blanket. "Damn you Winchester," he mumbled into Sam's warm and slightly damp chest, all but melted into his touch. They were soft and smooth to the touch but seemed to vibrate with energy while Gabriel settled in against him. "You have five minutes," he warned gently. "Before the wings go away. They're heavy."

Sam's breath was knocked out of him slightly when Gabriel fell onto his chest, wings folding down around them, creating an almost cocoon of space between his wings and the bed, just he and Gabriel basking in the warmth. At the mumbled damning, he laughed softly, lifting a hand to run his fingers back through Gabriel's hair a moment, only to plunge those fingers into golden feathers the moment Gabriel warned him that they would be gone in minutes. He hoped the archangel would let them out again some other time, but for now he intended to enjoy it as much as he could. One of his hands slid very gently through the soft feathers at the crook of his wing, the lowest one on the left side of his back, and the other now traced over the stiffer feathers of his upper wing, humming softly to himself, warm gaze on the trickster's face. 

Five minutes came and went and Gabriel could not bring himself to reclaim his wings. The feel of the hunter's sure fingers carding through his feathers did things to him. Things that even the brash archangel dare not speak. Sam could take his time moving through each tier of wings: from the smallest softer wings pressed against his side to the slender stiffer wings in the middle built to glide right on up to the largest fluffiest wings, the big impressive kind that when Sam's fingers passed under them they opened wider than the the hunter stood tall, much bigger than was necessary for the small man currently straddled over him.

Gabriel murmured something in Enochian after a long while, turning his head up to face the hunter with soft and darkened eyes. "Do you think you could cut that out?" He teased, pushing up from Sam's chest letting his wings flutter up a little before they were masked once more from sight. Silencing Sam’s pout with another kiss Gabriel settled atop Sam once more, drawing the comforter up from the bottom of the bed, snapping his fingers to clean up their mess with ease. They fell onto the bed and together they stayed until the following morning when Cas opened their motel room door and found them together in bed. 

And that was how Castiel found out that his older brother was sleeping with his boyfriend's younger brother.

It wasn't the elegant reveal Gabriel had hoped for but then again when had anything he'd done gone elegantly? For about a week Castiel fumed at him, saying he was taking advantage of Sam. But even the blue-eyed angel couldn't deny that the general tone of Team Free Will had been lifted with Gabriel's appearance and Sam appeared happier, lighter than he had been before. So eventually the argument was dropped and the four of them got back to what they were best at:

Saving people. Hunting things. The family business.


	6. Chapter 6

Six months later...

A hunt gone wrong. Why was it always a hunt gone wrong?

These days Gabriel felt like he was riding around with a trippy version of Scooby-Doo with himself cast as the bumbling Shaggy. No matter how much he tried to hunt sans-Grace he ended up fucking it up and getting them into trouble, sometimes with hilarious consequences. But this time was different, this time it was worse. 

This time he'd cost them a life.

The demon Andras had taken the shape of a prominent politician making it exceptionally difficult for the hunters and former angels to invade his ranks and take him out before he could claim the true vessel here in town. They'd lured him out into the boonies with a bit of misdirected information that would bring him to the vessel he needed. There the plan had been to trap him in a super charged devil's trap and between the four of them decapitate him as they had done with all the Knights so far. But Gabriel hadn't anticipated, nor sensed, the military-grade demons escorting the Marquis of Hell. 

Four of them to be precise, one for each of them. How thoughtful, Gabriel remembers thinking before the fray began each of them managing a single demon but only just barely. Even Gabriel was having difficulty, spurring his hits with little punches of Grace to keep the demon from advancing. Just one of them needed to scratch a line in the trap and Andras would be free and everything would be lost. But Gabriel had been too busy looking out for everyone else, glancing around whenever he got the opportunity to keep a constant tally, like a mother hen keeping watch for her chicks. Dean, Cas, Sam. Dean, Cas. Sam. Dean, Cas...

Gabriel lost sight of Sam just as there was a strangled cry to his left, followed quickly by a shout of 'Sam!' and a wicked laugh. The demons vanished and Gabriel was allowed to turn, his eyes falling on the most horrible sight he could imagine.

Sam Winchester was dead.

"Sam!!" he called but there was no response, no twitch on Sam's features just that wide-staring gaze. Andras began to laugh, cold and mirthless as he stood over the fallen Winchester and began to smoke out preparing, no doubt, to take this perfect vessel for his own. That's when Gabriel reacted, his grace flaring to life, his wings materializing. He charged the incoming smoke and caught the demon in his hands forcing him back into his former vessel and slamming the man to the ground. Andras' eyes were wide as he looked at Gabriel, muttering the demonic word for 'archangel' before Gabriel succeeded in cutting off his head, leaving the shocked look forever etched on his face. 

By the time he'd turned back to Sam Castiel and Dean were standing over him. Dean was crying but Castiel--Castiel was staring at Gabriel, more especially staring at his _wings_. Before he could speak Gabriel swept over and dropped down to Sam's side. "Get out of the way," Gabriel said forcefully over the elder Winchester. Dean looked up, surely with a protest on his lips before his green eyes full of tears turned up to stare at the great golden wings on Gabriel's back. Dean wisely decided to back off, pushing away far enough for Gabriel to kneel down beside his brother. "Oh Sam..." the great archangel breathed over his hunter, leaning down to kiss his forehead before reaching through the veil, searching for Sam.

When he had him Gabriel pulled perhaps too hard, returning Sam to his body made him arch suddenly and he gasped in a breath, choking because his lungs had yet to catch up to the little brain synapses that were slowly being restored in Sam's head reminding him to breathe. Dean dove down to take his little brother's hand, helping him sit upright at the first signs of life,

But as Dean was helping his brother to his feet, Gabriel's promptly knocked him off his.

"You...You have your Grace?!" Castiel shouted as Dean leapt up from the ground to wrap his arms around the dark-haired man and pull him back even as he tried to leap forward for another blow. Gabriel rubbed his jaw as he sat upright Sam reached down to pull him up. "You've had your Grace this WHOLE TIME!?"

"Cas! Just let's get out of here first--"

"Then zap us!" 

"What? No!"

"Zap us goddammit!" Dean shouted at Gabriel and the archangel tensed before he snapped his fingers and instantly they were away. They reappeared back in their motel room, Sam's and his, and Gabriel turned to his brother, desperate to explain but Cas had already turned tail, slamming the bathroom door behind him. "Cas..." 

"You have some serious explaining to do--"

Gabriel swallowed at the dangerous note in Dean's voice. 

"Dean--" Sam began but startled himself to a stop when his brother rounded on him. The extra height seemed to be ignored and the younger Winchester seemed to shrink before Gabriel's very eyes under the powerful gaze of his elder brother. "Did you know about this?" 

"Dean, just take a breath okay? It's just--"

"Did you--know about this?" Dean stressed, once more cutting Sam off and narrowing his gaze. The younger hunter stammered, started and stopped, unable to find the words which was, apparently, as good as guilty to Dean.

"So you been lying to me? Again?"

"Oh get over yourself, you both lie to each other all the time!"

Dean was unused to the sound of a third voice joining in their arguments. Whenever he and Sam got into it, Cas tended to disappear, either heading outside to avoid them or wandering away into town when they bickered in public. So when Gabriel spoke Dean rounded on him, looking at the miniscule archangel and shaking his head. "Stay out of this Gabriel."

"Like hell I am," Gabriel growled and stormed forward pushing Dean away from Sam and putting himself between the two of them. "You're gonna knock on Sam for lying to you? How many times have you lied to him? How many times have you lied to Sam in the name of keeping him safe and sane?"

"This is different!" Dean shouted in return standing his ground in front of the bathroom door. "You've been lying to Cas since day one--"

"And how is that different? No, I didn't want to remind my baby brother what he's lost! No, I didn't want to be used by the Winchesters like some quick-fix power tool! No, I didn't tell you because maybe I wanted to prove I could be useful even without my Grace!"

The door to the bathroom creaked and drew the attention of all three men in the room. Gabriel snapped to attention and tried to take a step forward, barred by Dean's wide hand pushing against his chest as he looked back to Castiel who was in the doorway shaking and redfaced. 

"You lied to me..." he said slowly and Gabriel looked up to his little brother and nodded his head. 

"I did. I know I did Cas, but I--" Gabriel began before he spotted something red in the mirror. His eyes went wide at what he saw there. Suddenly Gabriel leapt forward, pushing Dean out of the way. "Cas--wait--no!" 

The room filled with brilliant light and Castiel, Dean and Sam recoiled from it, waiting until the light had left their eyelids before they dared open their eyes again only to find that Gabriel was gone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Gabriel opened his eyes he could hardly believe he was home. The only thought running through his head was Sam over and over again. The gardens of heaven held no sway for him anymore and Gabriel screamed his rage blasting apart the nearest tree. The first one felt so good he did it again and again and again until there was a clearing of burnt out trunks, still smoking when he fell to sit on the grass beneath him. He screamed again, but this time it made Gabriel’s chest ache. Sam was alone, the Fallen were defenseless, and worst of all--Cas hated him. Hated him so much he’d risk banishing him without even knowing where he might go. 

“Hey...at least it’s not floating alone in a void…”

Gabriel jumped at the sound of another voice, a familiar voice. The voice he’d never thought he’d get to hear again. Looking around his eyes caught the sight of another man standing there beside him, looking down with a smile crinkling the corners of his blue eyes and a mop of shaggy brown hair. Chuck looked the same right down to the old striped bathrobe he wore. His father hadn’t changed at all…

“You’re alive--” Gabriel rasped as Chuck held out a hand and hauled him back to his feet.

“In a manner of speaking--” 

Gabriel gawked, feeling so many emotions at once he didn’t know which to feel first. Relief, joy, sadness, anger, all of them brewed inside Gabriel and like a storm it erupted out of nowhere and he shoved the man backwards. “What the hell man!” the archangel demanded. “You leave us all at the drop of a hat, no note, gone! The world was fucking falling apart around us and you left! Where the hell were you when you were really needed?!”

It felt good to scream and shout, especially to scream at the person Gabriel felt deserved it most. If his Father had never left the archangels wouldn’t have gotten territorial, if he’d never left the Apocalypse would have remained a bedtime story. If God had never left the angels would’ve never fallen and innocent people would not have to pay the price for his apathy.

“I could as you the very same thing,” Chuck shot back cooly and Gabriel felt as though he’d been smacked in the face. Faced with his mirror though Gabriel could only clench his fists and stand there. He couldn’t very well condemn a man for disappearing when he’d been guilty of exactly the same thing. Chuck’s smug expression didn’t make the medicine any better to swallow though so Gabriel decked him anyway. The man fell back and held his jaw as if it really could hurt him but it made Gabriel feel satisfied if only for the moment.

“You came back though,” Chuck said from the ground, pushing himself up to dust off his backside with a few broad swipes. “And so did I…”

“Yeah well you’re a day late and dollar short pal,” Gabriel snapped, still feeling raw from earlier and ripped apart now, unsure of what this meant was going to happen now that his father was back. If he was staying this time…“If you came back that means something bad’s about to happen--”

“Not necessarily…” Chuck said softly finally getting Gabriel to look back at his father and see him looking so tired, just like before he left. Those days Chuck had wandered around aimlessly but Gabriel had been too interested in joining the pagans down on Earth to pay him much attention. Now Gabriel saw the pain written in the lines of his face, the weariness in his limbs which before used to stand tall and proud. 

“You gonna finish that sentence or are we going to continue to be cryptic here? Cause I’ve got a tunnel to Earth to start digging somewhere,” Gabriel finally sighed, tucking his hands into the pockets of his jacket, already considering where he might have to go to find a weak place in this lock-box of a paradise.

“I came back for you.”

That threw Gabriel completely off his game. Of all the archangels Gabriel had always felt set apart, different, but he’d adjusted as well as he could considering everything. His father had never shown him any regard before so why all of a sudden would he be interested in him now.

“Why...the hell would you do that?” Gabriel whispered, his voice soft as Chuck looked up at him and gave him a soulful stare.

“Because you’re the one Gabriel…”

“The one?”

“The one who’s going to fix all this.”

Gabriel stared, dumbfounded as Chuck stood up to walk back to him, looking out over his creation with appreciation like he used to have instead of concern and lethargy.

“Gabriel..it was always meant to be yours…”

“What was?”

“Heaven. Earth. Creation. All of it.”

“What’re you on about old man?” Gabriel scoffed, not quite able to wrap his mind around what he was being told.

“It’s like this Gabriel...I was never meant to stay on forever. Death’s waiting for me don’t you know. Bastard is going to get me back for all those chess games I rigged...” To his credit Chuck didn’t look nearly as worried as Gabriel thought he ought to be. As far as he was concerned Death was the ultimate, above even his father yet far too humble a being to dare creating what he would one day have to destroy. 

“I created my sons to find a successor. Someone strong enough to hold things down while I was gone. When I left that’s what I was doing. Testing you all and only you’ve passed Gabriel.”

Gabriel stared for a long moment. A test? That’s what all of this was about? They’d suffered and argued and fought, died and been resurrected. All for a test. Gabriel wasn’t sure if he ought to be even more pissed. 

“You obeyed my orders before they were ever orders. I wanted you to love and appreciate humans. Lucifer was quick to make his opinion known and Michael was too concerned and heartbroken over Lucifer’s loss. Raphael was so desperate to overshadow all of you he got himself killed in the process. You loved the humans even when your brothers mocked you for it, before I ever asked you to love them.”

Chuck moved closer and this time Gabriel didn’t move away, staring at his father in confusion. “You disobeyed me to pursue them, hid away here on earth to avoid it all because you were happier with the humans. Even got into a bit of fun with them, huh?”

“Dad!” Gabriel shouted appalled. Geez. It’s one thing to get called out.

“What? I’ve no room to speak. Remember Mary?”

Gabriel shuddered remembering that awkward conversation and gave himself a shake. “I don’t understand. How can I possibly be your successor? You’re--way more powerful than I am. I don’t have the ability to create--”

“Not exactly,” Chuck closed the distance between them and reached out his hand to rest it on Gabriel’s shoulder. This time Gabriel didn’t pull away from him, letting the familiar eight ground him and his gold eyes shot up to find that of his father’s burning bright in Chuck’s eyes. “You have one--well, two creations to date.”

“Are you high old man? No one creates. No one but you.”

Chuck bobbed his head from side to side before nodding in his son’s direction, fingers tightening on Gabriel’s shoulder. “And you. Don’t you understand? Castiel was willful not because he was a bad soldier but because he had been created differently. By someone completely unique in the universe. You."

Gabriel's mind whirred with the hum of an engine and temporarily he found himself numb with shock. He had created Castiel? When had that happened? Shouldn't he remember something like that?? 

“You’ve always surprised me Gabriel, but never so much as you did when you appeared before me with a fledgling angel in your arms with wings so black--” Chuck laughed gently as he slipped away again to seat himself upon his throne. “You told me you had no idea where he’d come from...” But Gabriel was tuning him out now, scanning his memory trying to remember the first time he laid eyes on Castiel so many eons ago but the only thing he could remember was presenting Castiel to his Father...

_“Gabriel?”_

_“Look dad!”_

_“Gabriel--wha--where did this come from?”_

_“I dunno but isn’t he great?”_

_“Uh...uh yeah. He’s great. Wh-What’s his name?”_

_“I dunno. What should we call him?”_

_“Well if I knew where he came from maybe I’d know what to call him.”_

Gabriel tried to look further back, tried to remember the moment he’d picked Castiel up in his arms but try as he might he couldn’t see past that memory. There were memories before and there were memories after but the line pre-Cas and post-Cas was closing to the point that Gabriel would swear one moment he was non-existent and the next became real. 

That’s when he realized it. He’d never picked Castiel up in his arms. Castiel had been created _in_ his arms. Gabriel pressed the heels of his hands over his eyes blotting out all the light while he tried to see what his mind had blocked out for so long. He could almost feel the rush of energy collecting inside him,the desire to create something of his own, to have something that didn’t belong to his brothers, to his family. Something of his very own. And lo there was Castiel with his black wings and black hair and impossibly blue eyes.

“I never really figured out what happened the day you were created but I've come to realize that you were made to be my successor just as one day you'll create your own successor."

"Well why isn't Cas my successor?" 

"I think you're forgetting--Castiel is your only creation currently. I got you on the third attempt and--it was kind of memorable. I was just getting the hang of creating and it was my thought that Michael and Lucifer would rule after I was gone. Two minds are better than one thing."

Gabriel waved his hand impatiently. "Balance. Key to the universe and all that. Then I came along and fucked everything up and you tried to kill me--"

"You scared the shit out of me," Chuck reasoned, shaking his head and piercing Gabriel with a soulful gaze. "I had no clue what was going on all I knew was my creations were being destroyed by...well by you. You were just this massive exploding star and I panicked. It was Lucifer that reminded me I was not Death and had no right to take your life. Michael suggested a fourth archangel and soon as Raphael was born balance was restored. I figured maybe it was a fluke. Maybe it had been because I hadn't created you all from the same batch of primordial ooze. Then I forgot how you happened and was just grateful you happened at all. Didn’t you ever wonder why your illusions, your temporary creations, were powerful enough to fool almost anyone? I think only Lucifer only ever got the hang of it because he’d taken care of you for so long..."

“Not to mention the body you've got there,” Chuck went on. “You've always been big even though you tuck yourself neatly into the vessel you created. Remember? You created that meat suit. An empty one of your own design because no natural born human vessel can contain you.” 

“When you let Cas go to be with Dean you looked for something new to take care of, someone to love and right there between the two of them you spied Sam. Love at first sight and all that jazz because you saw something in him that reminded you of yourself. Wanting to be your own person while maintaining family ties. Sometimes leaving for long periods of time with zero contact in between...so you latched onto him a bit. But Sam was so strong you didn't dare to interfere with him yet. He didn't need you yet. And you finally got your chance when you found him again...when you healed him." 

Gabriel didn’t want to admit how right his father was. How many years had he spent watching over Sam, wanting to step in and finally take care of the hunter the way he deserved to be taken care of. To make Sam’s life exactly what it should have been instead of settling for the half-life he’d been handed by fate woven by his father…a fate Gabriel could create anew. If he could really create at all.

“What do I have to do now…?” Gabriel asked and Chuck smiled holding out his hand gesturing to all of Heaven before him.

“All you have to do now Gabriel is--play your role…”


	7. Chapter 7

Months passed without a word and Sam had started to give up hope of ever seeing Gabriel again. He’d given Castiel weeks of the silent treatment before Dean smacked him in the back of the head and told him to stop. What’s done was done and Gabriel had made his bed the minute he decided to lie to them, he’d said. Dean had been quicker to forgive Sam of course if only because he still believed that Sam had just been under the influence of some spell Gabriel had put on him. Sam assured him the attraction had been mutual but Dean wouldn’t hear a word against it. It didn’t matter to him, he had his angel. Sam only wanted his back…

The threat against the Fallen seemed to vanish almost overnight. There were no mysterious bodies found and no vicious killings. The Fallen themselves seemed to disappear too, slipping deeper into society as far as they could tell until they might have not existed at all. Sam silently hoped it was Gabriel, but there was never enough proof to give him a sound hypothesis.

It was snowing outside the bunker and Sam watched the weather report in the library to monitor the storm passing over them. Dean and Cas were supposed to be at the shooting range but the sound of popping weapons had long since died away. It was safer if he just stayed right here than dared to venture out without knowing where they might be getting up to now…

So when he heard a knock from the large metal door outside echo down the hall Sam had to pause and wonder who the hell would be here out in this kind of storm at this ungodly hour?

His chair fell backwards and clattered to the floor as Sam bolted up from his seat to run for the door. “I got it!” he shouted down the hall, sure it would echo to Dean if he and Cas were still in the shooting range not far from there as Sam unbolted the door and pushed it open.

“Heya Sammy. Long time no see. Didja miss me?"

Gabriel stood outside, sunk deep into the fresh snow that was still coating the ground. Five inches were expected just for tonight and Sam knew already what had happened…but he couldn’t say anything until he’d stepped out into the frigid night and kissed the archangel with everything he had. Gabriel gripped Sam back against his chest, grateful he had this chance to be here, even if it was only for now. When they pulled away, pink-cheeked and breathless Sam finally asked. “How did you find us?”

“A friend of yours, Charlie pointed me in the right direction,” Gabriel said with a dizzy sort of smile. “Nice girl. Lots of board games.But when I tried to drive on by, I would get turn around somewhere, that’s when I realized other angels used to be after you so there had to be--”

“Angel sigils--” Sam stammered as he stepped back inside and reached out for Gabriel’s hand, helping him to stumble into the entry and shake the snow off his shoulders and feet. 

“Real inconvenient little bastards. So I had to start combing the road you were supposed to be on foot, and here I am” Gabriel agreed as he unraveled and ran a hand through his hair to get rid of the snow that had collected here during his very, very long walk. Sam stared as he disrobed, hanging it up on the coatrack with such practiced ability that Sam should have picked up right away how fake it was for Gabriel...he was just so happy to see him again.

“Sorry--I didn’t even think--I’ll take care of ‘em right away,” Sam stammered as he shut the door and locked it tight, waiting till Gabriel was down to a god-awful ugly sweater to embrace him tightly at last. Gabriel seemed to sink back into the familiarity of Sam’s embrace and it took every ounce of will to pull himself away to smile back up to the hunter.

“Don’t worry about it, how about some hot chocolate first? Then we should talk.”

A few minutes later found them sitting across from one another in the library, their hands wrapped around a pair of steaming mugs and two very different expressions on each of their faces. Sam was nothing short of giddy at Gabriel’s return while Gabriel was subdued as he drank deeply and sighed bringing the cup down to the table.

“Does Cas know you’re here?” Sam asked softly, surprised when Gabriel actually nodded instead of giving him an apologetic look. 

“I saw Cas and your brother too--I had something to give to him,” Gabriel said pulling a necklace from around his throat that glowed with a light so bright it hurt Sam’s eyes to try to look at head on.

“Is that--” Sam whispered breathlessly and Gabriel nodded.

“Yeah. It’s his grace. I made sure to retrieve it from Metatron before I kicked his ass all the way to the bottom of the Mariana Trench. He’ll enjoy the quiet for a good long while before I go looking for him again.”

“So you--you did go into Heaven?” Sam sounded relieved and that warmed Gabriel like nothing else had these last few months hunting for the hunter himself. 

“Yeah--seems like the banishing sigil overrode the locked doors protocol,” Gabriel said with a chuckle as he tucked the vial away. “Would’ve been handy if I’d known that ahead of time but--at least it wasn’t floating in a void somewhere.”

“At least,” Sam agreed with a huff before he shook his head, still not comprehending. “But why do you have Cas’ grace if you’ve already been to see Cas--”

“He didn’t take it,” Gabriel explained easily, a fond smile finally crossing his features as he recalled the way Castiel had stepped back from the glowing vial of his own unique essence and reached out instead for the hand of the hunter beside him. Dean made no fuss, just stared as Castiel laced their fingers together and said he’d rather stay human with Dean--if that was alright. Of course it had been, Gabriel had even expected it in some strange way but he had to at least offer the choice of coming back. “Some of the Fallen didn’t either,” he went on. “Once I had the doors unlocked I started popping around asking them if they wanted to come back, be angels again and some of them jumped at the opportunity while others seemed content to stay here. I’m not gonna start ordering them around if that’s what they chose.”

“So what’s happening now? The angels are back in heaven so is God back in the picture?” Sam asked earning a knowing smile from Gabriel across from him, the archangel’s eyes glittering in the lamplight. 

“Well Sam...that’s kind of why I’m here…” 

Sam was left dumbstruck a few minutes later when Gabriel going about explaining what had happened from the moment he arrived in heaven to his arrival at the bunker door. It seemed almost too incredible to be true to think that all this had been a set up by Chuck of all people!

“I mean I can’t believe that he--” Sam stammered but he needn’t finish because Gabriel just shook his head and held up a hand in reply.

“I know--”

“‘And you know that because of him I--”

“I know!” Gabriel insisted, knowing all of Sam’s sordid past and all the hard decisions that Chuck had forced him to make. “But you didn’t let me finish--this is the reason I’m here:”

I came here because now that I’m taking over for my Father I’ve decided it’s due time you Winchesters got what you deserved for once. I wanted to give you the best thing I could think of--and that’s the chance at a happy, normal life.”

Sam was stunned into silence for a moment, staring blankly ahead at Gabriel while the golden-haired man went on.

“I would turn back the clock and make it like everything had never happened--”

Gabriel jumped as Sam stood suddenly from the table, leaning into it to stare Gabriel down incredulously, shaking his head. There was no way this was Gabriel’s ‘happy solution’, he thought. After all they’d gone through, after everything they meant to each other...there was no way Sam could let it end like this.

“So what--what you think you can just wipe you from my memory and I’m just--just going to _forget_ you?” 

“Sam...” Gabriel murmured, standing up as well and crossing to Sam who stared him down with tears brimming in his eyes, righteously angry but unsure of what he could do or say to make Gabriel change his mind.

“Because I just don’t think I can do that! Not after all of this!” 

“Sam.”

“That you would even--”

“Sam!”

Sam finally stopped and looked to Gabriel who had finally gripped his head firmly in his hands. 

“I’m not just going to take back the last year. I’m taking it all back.”

Mary would never have been forced to make the deal with Azazel which meant there would be no demon visit on November 2, 1983. Sam would always remain pure and he would be raised alongside Dean with both his parents fully intact. They’d live the long and happy lives that, in Gabriel’s opinion, they so rightly deserved. The boys would never become hunters and live blissfully unaware of the underworld around them. There would be angels for that now, Gabriel had decided, allowing mankind to finally be at peace for a while.

“I’ll even throw Cas back down there if he wants me to so your fool brother can finally come outta the closet,” Gabriel said with a weak chuckle that broke Sam’s concentration and he shook his head.

“I don’t want to do this,” Sam admitted softly, wrapping his arms around the golden eyed man clinging to him as long as he can because he knows by now that Gabriel will have his way no matter what Sam has to say. 

“You’ll live a long and happy life. I promise it. Now I won’t give you everything you want. But I’ll make certain that you have everything you need.” 

Sam leaned down and pressed his forehead to Gabriel’s, relishing in the contact. “Will I ever see you again?”

Gabriel just smiled. “You won’t. But know wherever you go, I’ll be right there beside you.”

“I love you Gabriel.”

“I love you too, kiddo. Goodbye.”


	8. Epilogue

EPILOGUE

“Goodbye.”

The sound of his own voice startled Sam awake, blinking as he pushed up from the bed into the sharp darkness in the predawn. The dream was still real, still fresh in his mind as he climbed out of bed and out towards his study so he could write it out before the details began to grow fuzzy and dull. The sound of typing keys filled the morning air and by the time Sam finishes writing what he can remember the sun is lightening the sky to a dull foggy gray. Why he ever chose to live in San Francisco is beyond him. Sometimes he missed the sunshine Kansas got during the summers, even if he hated the frigid Midwest winters. But there was something about San Francisco that sucked him in and refused to let him back out.

And he was reminded of what exactly that something was when he smelled coffee and a particular brand of perfume.

Smiling to himself Sam was just about to get up when an arm encircled his neck and he received a peck to the cheek. “What’s that for?” he asked with a smirk as another arm appeared wielding a delicious looking cup of coffee complete with whipped cream and caramel sauce on top. “For letting me sleep, especially after our late night last night,” a young woman hummed close to his ear and Sam’s grin widened taking a sip and sighing. “Well you should know I think I finally have an ending.”

“To your angel story? Really! And just last night you were lamenting you didn’t know how you were going to finish.”

“I had another dream last night.”

“Oh?”

“It’s a little ridiculous--”

“A little?”

“Okay a lot but--I think it’s good.”

The young woman slipped into Sam’s lap, tilting her head to the side and focusing one golden eye firmly on Sam. Gabrielle only usually looked at him like that when she was in the middle of a sketch and instinctively Sam sat very still until she spoke up again.

“But what about Gabriel and Sam?” she asked, gaze smoldering if he dared to mess with her favorites of his creations. Sam laughed and stole a kiss much to her chagrin.

“In the end they do what’s best for each other...but I like to think they meet again somewhere.”

The answer seemed to please her and Gabrielle’s gaze softened as she kissed Sam again a little fuller on the mouth.

“And they live happily ever after?” 

Sam grinned and rubbed her side, leaning back and smiling to himself.

“Yeah Gabby...they live happily ever after.” 

Gabrielle smiled brightly to that and leaned in to hug Sam solidly around the neck as she swung up off his lap with a hop. “Good, now finish up, I’m making pancakes.”

“Chocolate chip?” Sam called as Gabrielle left him and sauntered away. She paused in the doorway and looked back at him and Sam’s breath was taken away for a moment because he’s seen that look before in his dreams.

“You know it, kiddo,” 

THE END


End file.
